


You Can’t Go Home Again  (But Really, If that’s ‘Home’ Why would you want to?)

by Mistymay6886



Series: Slightly Evil Magnus Verse (Verse 2) [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Asexual Character, Asexual Raphael Santiago, BAMF Magnus Bane, Case Fic, Demisexuality, Detective Alec Lightwood, F/F, Falling In Love, First Dates, Fluff and Humor, Heart-to-Heart, High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane, M/M, Malec, Original Character(s), Pansexual Character, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Saphael, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-10-19 00:52:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 69,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17591672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistymay6886/pseuds/Mistymay6886
Summary: Oooh Crap…Simon’s secrets out, now he has some explaining to do…So…what IS the truth?What the hell IS a Gwir-Dyst, and how in the world did a born hunter of the supernatural end up a detective in the City with the biggest population of Supernatural’s in existence?Is he working some kind of angle or is the truth more complicated than that?Meanwhile the case is solved…now for the cleanup…So…how do you spin ‘A demon masqueraded as an angel and tried to trick a desperate man into raising hell on earth’ into something explainable to a normal human public?Also Izzy meets someonetrulybewitchingTo top things off, Alec is recovering from his close call and having trouble separating his memories from his dreams…What is real?And why does he keep getting flashes of hauntingly beautiful golden eyes?





	1. Tell Me A Secret

**Author's Note:**

> **_ Notes: _ **
> 
> Alright so, these first three stories kinda work as a trilogy, this is the aftermath of the last two … we have a LOT to cover here:
> 
>  
> 
>  Tons of Saphael _(they take over the entire first three chapters, I’m not even sorry…they deserve it…)._ We have the first meeting of Clary and Izzy, we have the aftermath of the whole Demon in Angel’s clothing thing, meeting Divya and figuring out what to do with Raj.
> 
>  
> 
> Honestly the Malec will be a bit light in this one (Don’t worry it’s still there), sorry but they’ve had the last two stories and will take up much of the rest of the series as well, they can take a bit of a back seat every once in a while.
> 
>  
> 
> As you can see we have a lot to cover here, it may seem a bit jumpy but I think the way I have it planned it’ll work out pretty well…
> 
>  
> 
> Also this one _(After we get past Simon’s…well…past- that is going to be totally different from the bit we got in canon…FYI it’s not gonna be a super happy background- sorry, but it’s necessary for the character and to establish exactly WHY the Supernaturals are so very suspicious of Gwir-Dyst)_ will stay a fair bit lighter than the other two, I think after the excitement and drama of the last one we can use a bit of fluff and humor,
> 
>  Right?
> 
> _Kay, enough of my yammering, let’s see where this one ends up_

 

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#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

_Woah! What the hell was that?!_

 

Simon startled at the loud booming sound, feeling the ground beneath him quake with the shockwave.

 

Okay, he was trying to stay out of it, knowing both that Magnus and Raphael were far more prepared to handle a demonic threat and that if he went in they would either have to try to explain everything or he’d have to try to tell them he’s a Gwir-dyst and they just flat out did NOT have time to deal with that drama on top of everything else.

 

Nonetheless that was a BAD sound, he couldn’t just stand out here doing nothing, he had to see if there was any way he could help.

 

He slipped up the steps, checking his gun, quietly opening the door, making his way into the building, scanning what at one point seemed to be some kind of lobby. The rattling sound seemed to emanate from the top floor, so that’s probably where the biggest part of the action was happening, but not all of it.

 

Up on the landing between the third and second floor he could hear some kind of a scuffle; no part of which sounded human. Growling, hissing, yelping and snarling filled the air.

 

_The building was supposed to be abandoned but who the hell knows what all was involved in this demon summoning thing? H-_

 

His thoughts are cut off by a loud, sickening thump of something heavy hitting the stone floor. He whirled to face the sound, eyes widening at the bizarre creature lying prone on the ground.

 

It was about four feet long, body shaped similar to a coyote or some type of wild dog, only it was hairless, an odd greenish black, and the skin looked almost leathery, like the hide of a rhino. The creature had long limbs, sharp claws and an elongated vaguely crocodilian like snout filled with long, jagged teeth…

 

_Oh man…PLEASE let that thing be dead…_

He cautiously moved closer, gun held at the ready, looking for any signs of life. It didn’t appear to be breathing, mouth hanging open wide, long, bizarre forked tongue lolling out; its blood red eyes were open, lifeless.

 

_Okay…it’s dead…_

 

But listening to the snarling, hissing ruckus above it was not alone…

 

_Oh great…an entire **pack** of terrifying demonic lizard/dog things…_

_Crap…maybe he should have just stayed outside…_

_Mayb-_

His thoughts are once again cut off by a sharp yelping sound from above, followed by a crack and the groan of metal giving way. He glances up, then leaps out of the way as a second hellhound like beasts crashes to the floor on top of the section of wrought iron guardrail.

_Man it’s a knockdown drag out fight up there._

Someone is being attacked by these things. They took out two, but it sounds like there’s quite a few more still up there. It has to be Magnus, Alec or Raphael. Alec is his partner and his friend and without a doubt one of the best detectives he’s ever met, but he SO doesn’t see him going head to head with a vicious pack of hellhounds. He can still hear the sounds from the top floor, and he doesn’t see any flashes of Magic from the landing…it must be Raphael fighting those devil/croc/dog things- no way in hell he’s leaving him to face them alone…

 

_He just hopes these things aren’t immune to bullets_

He spotted the beginning of the stairs, rushing up the first flight. The sounds of the fight intensify; panting, yelping, snarling and hissing.

 

He hears something smacking into the wall hard, and a sharp yelp…

 

Sounds like one more down, but then he hears a surprised, startled yell and the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor. He rushes up the stairs, whirling round the last landing, heart hammering, before nearly stuttering to a stop at the sight before him.

 

Three of the creatures are circling, snapping their jaws. The biggest of the creatures is standing directly on a body, feet planted firmly on the persons shoulders, leaning in, mouth opening wide, teeth glinting in the light, slobber dripping,

 

 ** _“Hey!_** _Get off him you slobbering, creepy whatever the hell you are!”_ he shouts, raising his gun firing off four shots in rapid succession, each shot finding its mark, the beasts crumpling to the floor…

_Oh thank god, they’re not immune,_

 

He startles when the biggest creature seems to begin moving, raising his gun again, but breathes a sigh of relief when he realizes it’s actually Raphael pushing the dead thing off.

 

He moves forward, holstering his gun, looking him over worriedly,

 

“Are you alright Raphael?”

 

Raphael seems frozen…looking at him in shock, like he’s trying to process what just happened. His sharp gaze flickers from Simon over to the creatures than back, something seemingly clicking.

 

His gaze zeros in on him,

_Oh crap…_

He tilts his head, moving into a defensive crouch, giving a low hiss, eyes cold and dangerous, suddenly looking every bit the predator he’d heard of in hushed whispers…

“Gwir-dyst” he growls

 

Simon blinks, heart stuttering, eyes wide, taking a hesitant step back, swallowing, putting his hands up placatingly, being sure not to make any sudden movements, not wanting to seem in any way a threat…

 

“Okay, so…I can **_totally_** explain.”

 

He made that hissing sound again; Simon took another cautious step back, swallowing, trying to get his voice to work.

 

_Damn Raphael could be scary as hell when he wanted to be,_

 

“O-okay…s-so the thing about it is t…” he trailed off; eyes catching on something slumped against the wall in the corner of the landing,

 

A body…

 

His heart stops…

 

It’s Alec…

_Oh god…they were too late…_

 

He begins moving over towards Alec; a deadly, vicious, hissing growl like sound brings him up short. He turns back to Raphael, shaking his head, taking a shuttering breath, gesturing vaguely towards Alec. Something flickers in his expression, it doesn’t soften, but it’s something. He shakes his head slightly,

 

 

“He is not dead, just unconscious, it’s a spell, he’ll be fine.” Raphael bites out, in a cold, clipped tone.

 

Simon breathes a sigh of relief, nodding quickly,

 

“Oh thank god… what kind of spell? Did h-”

 

“A memory spell- he saw far too much, it could have damaged him… _well_ …unless of course he’s ALSO a Gwir-dyst…though if he is he’s a hell of an actor…” Raphael stood up smoothly, giving a deceptively casual shrug,

 

“Though I suppose the same can be said for you…I must admit you definitely had me fooled.”

 

_Okay yeah…he kind of deserved that, but still it hurt,_

 

He sighed, shaking his head,

 

“He’s not, Alec is totally human…he doesn’t know about any of this, and for his sanity I’d never tell him. H-he’ll be okay? Really?”

 

“Yes, Magnus knows what he’s doing.”

 

 

Simon nodded, moving forward,

 

“Okay, we need to get him to the hospital so he can be checked out a-”

 

“I _said_ he’s fine.” Raphael snapped

 

Simon bristled a bit at that,

 

_He felt bad but Alec’s health concerns FAR outweighed Raphael’s anger._

 

“Yes, I realize that, and I am sure Magnus DOES…but memory spells are tricky as hell, even when done by the most experienced practitioners, especially when combined with traumatic events or concussions and the like. I can see the bruise on his temple from here, as well as the start of a pretty good knot.

 

We need to get out of here and have him checked out.

 

I know Magnus is good, but Alec is MY partner and he needs to be checked by a doctor. I’ll tell you everything, answer all your questions, but I will only do it after I know my partner is safe and unharmed- and you can hiss and growl and intimidate all you want but it’s not going to do a damn bit of good.”

 

Raphael quirked his eyebrow at the tone, Simon just shrugged,

 

“I think I know a bit more about spells than a Gwir-dyst.”

 

Simon gave a slightly sarcastic flailing wave,

 

“I’m sure you do, but that doesn’t change the fact that **_my_** partner we kidnapped by some psychopath trying to summon a demon who planned to use him for a sacrifice. They had him for nearly two hours; I don’t know what happened to him in that time, neither do you. We have no idea what all he went through, we have no idea if they drugged him, if he has a concussion, if anything’s broken or anything else.

 

So I will say it _again_ ; we need to get him out of here and get him to a hospital. He needs to be checked out by **_actual_** medical professionals, and unless I’m mistaken that does not apply to either you OR Magnus.”

 

Raphael gave a huffing, mirthless laugh,

 

“There is n-” he’s cut off by a thundering, earth shaking, sonic boom, much louder than the last sound. The entire building rocks to its very foundation, he hears the sound of glass shattering echoing throughout the building.

 

He and Raphael both startle, looking up towards the top floor,

 

“What the hell was that?” Simon asks, looking over at him,

 

“That is Magnus…the demon was trying to open a door to Calon tywyll, basically hell. That cannot happen, Magnus will not let it- he’ll bring this entire building down before that, and he’s really not playing around.

 

We need to get out of here.” he says, turning, pulling Alec up, situating him against his shoulder, wincing slightly,

 

Simon rolls his eyes, huffing faintly,

 

“Exactly what I’ve BEEN saying...” he groused, moving forward, going to slip under Alec’s other shoulder,

 

Raphael glared, baring his fangs,

 

“I’ve got it.” he snapped,

 

Simon scoffed,

 

“Oh come off it; Alec is my partner, you are hurt, and as we speak there is a knockdown drag out fight between a demon trying to raise hell on earth and one of the most powerful supernatural beings in existence going on four flights above our heads. This is NOT the time for this huffy, pissy, overly macho ‘I can do it myself’ crap.

 

I get that you’re mad, and you can bitch at me all you want after we get out of here and to a safe distance, but right now _we_ need to get out of here, _you_ need help, and _I’m_ your only option, so suck it up and deal.”

 

He didn’t wait for a reply, just moved back to Alec’s side, slipping Alec’s arm around his shoulders, beginning to move towards the stairs, Raphael falling into step.

 

He could practically hear him fuming,

 

_Ah crap…_

_Yeah, he’s definitely gonna regret that later…_

 

Probably not the smartest move, purposefully antagonizing one of the most feared Vampires in the country, but hopefully saving his life would be enough to buy him time to explain…

 

_Raphael was one thing, but if he told The High Warlock Of Brooklyn Simon was a Gwir-dyst he’d be screwed…_

_Best case scenario he’d have to leave town, uproot his life and start all over again…_

_Worst…_

_Well, he wasn’t going there…_

 

Compared to a pissed off Magnus ready for a fight one little demon and a pack of hellhounds seemed like nothing.

 

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

_How the hell did he not see it?_

He was with him all day yesterday…he’d talked, they’d shared, he’d been more open with Simon than anyone in a long time. He really thought it was real, that the guy genuinely liked him…

 

That there was really something between them…

 

_How could he be so **damn** stupid?_

_A freaking **Gwir-dyst.**_

No wonder he seemed so damn sweet and kind and compassionate- should have known it was too good to be true. It must be some kind of cover; he had to be working on something. That had to be it…

 

He didn’t know what, but that’s the only explanation he can think of for a born hunter of supernatural beings working as a detective in the city with the largest population of Supernaturals in the country, arguably the world…

 

No way it’s just a coincidence.

 

He had to be playing some kind of long game; ingratiating himself, getting close to them, finding out what he can…getting information or who knows what else…

 

_God, he was so stupid…_

_He fell for it, hook, line and sinker._

Just like Luke and all the other’s down at the station;

 

_Hell **worse** than them-_

_THEY didn’t spend an entire day trying to get up the courage to ask him out…_

He must have got a great laugh- one of the most feared, infamous vampires in the country practically tripping over himself; flirting, pouring his heart out…

 

_God he was **so** stupid…_

Whatever…at least he figured it out before he got in too deep. One stupid misstep, Magnus was the only one that would know, he’ll get over it.

 

_He should have known it was too good to be true…_

They’d taken Alec to the hospital, got him admitted, the doctors looked him over, telling them he should be fine but they want to keep him overnight and tomorrow to make sure everything is alright.

 

Now he didn’t really know what to do. A Gwir-dyst within the BPD was unbelievably dangerous, no way he could leave it how it was, but there was on real protocol for this kind of thing…he’d have to ask Magnus a-

 

“Thank you for helping Alec.” Simon says softly

 

Raphael just shrugged, noncommittally,

 

Simon sighed,

 

“A-and I’m sorry I snapped at you, I ju-”

 

“I don’t really care to listen to any more lies. As I said you fooled me. I would say I’m impressed, as generally that is quite difficult; but as in the past hour I have fought a demon, had said demon claw my leg open before nearly throwing me through a window six stories up, then was nearly eaten alive-so to speak-by a pack of ravenous Madfall-ci I’m really not in the mood to praise someone for managing to deceive me.”

 

Simon shook his head,

 

“Raphael, I-I wasn’t trying to deceive you, I j-”

 

He scoffed, whirling to face him,

 

“Pretended to be a clueless, normal human? Tried to make me care…pretended that…you know what? It doesn’t matter what you were doing, what you were working on or why you were doing it; it’s done.

 

Once I tell Magnus H-”

 

Simon shook his head quickly,

 

“Please don’t tell h-”

 

Raphael gave a harsh, disbelieving laugh,

 

“Are you kidding me? Unlike you I wasn’t lying; Magnus is my best friend, my family- why the hell would you think I would keep something like this from him?

 

Really, why shouldn’t I tell? _Dios_ , I can’t believe I didn’t see it, I didn’t notice _anything!_ Not so much as a hint! Here I am tripping over myself, trying to get up the nerve to ask you on a date a-”

 

“You were?”

 

“That doesn’t really matter now!”

 

Simon shrugs,

 

“I would have said yes.”

 

Raphael scoffs, shaking his head

 

“Why, so you could get a clear shot at me?”

 

Simon shook his head quickly, eyes wide

 

“No! Nothing like that- just because I really like you...t-that’s all…” he trails off, glancing away, brushing his hair back,

 

Raphael falters somewhat, feels his resolve soften, before shaking it away in disbelief.

 

“This is ridiculous. I’m feeling empathetic, getting tongue tied and flustered and I don’t DO that! That has never happened to me, not in over a century of existence. So why is it happening with you?” He pauses, glaring, tilting his head, looking Simon over suspiciously,

 

“Is that some bizarre, unknown Gwir-dyst power? Some extra way to mask what you are?”

 

Simon blinks, glancing up, quickly shaking his head,

 

“No, no powers- well…nothing like that. I’m a bit quicker than a regular human and have faster reflexes…at least I do when my innate clumsiness and awkwardness doesn’t get in the way… and I can see you guys without totally losing it… but that’s it. ”

 

Raphael tilted his head, listening for any signs of deception, but found none.

 

“So why am I feeling like this around you?”

 

Simon gave a confused, slightly exasperated, shrug

 

“ _Dude, I have no clue!_ I work with a ton of Supernaturals, have for years. None of them ‘react’ to me, except to laugh when said awkwardness kicks in.”

 

Raphael glared, suspiciously,

 

“I don’t believe you…I’ll ask Magnus what he knows about Gwir-dyst.”

 

He shook his head again,

 

“Please don’t…And I-I wasn’t lying either…please, just give me a chance to explain, i-”

 

“ _What could you explain?!_  You lied to me, pretended to be something you’re not, tried to trick me into liking you, into letting my guard down-”

 

“ _I didn’t!_ I wasn’t doing any of that-”

 

“Yes y-”

 

“No I didn’t…and you were lying too! You pretended to be human-”

 

Raphael gave a disbelieving sound, eyes wide,

 

“ _Of course I did!_ I thought YOU were human! Humans do not know about vampires actually existing, for most the knowledge would break them- not really something you just casually bring up in conversation!”

 

Simon scoffed, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“ _Oh and being a **Gwir-dyst** IS?!_

 

What the hell was I supposed to say?

 

Hey I’m Simon; I’m one of those things that have mercilessly and relentlessly hunted down supernatural beings since pretty much the beginning of written history, but it’s cool, I’m totally not THAT kind of gwir-dyst?” he gestured animatedly,

 

In spite of himself he had to fight down a bit of a laugh at that-

 

_Yeah, that probably wouldn’t have gone over too well…_

 

He caught himself, shaking his head,

 

“Stop trying to be cute, I’m not falling for the act.”

 

Simon gave an aggravated groan, and a flailing wave,

 

“WHAT ACT!? I’m not acting! I’m not trying to be _‘cute’_ , I’m not trying to trick you or lull you into trusting me or whatever else;

 

I’m just telling you the truth.

 

You think this has been hard for _you?_ Thinking you have to keep being a vamp a secret? _How the hell do you think it is for me?!_

 

I have to keep MY secret, AND yours AND Magnus’s _and_ cover for Magnus around Alec because dude SO does not have the subtlety thing down and act like I don’t know what all is going on and I don’t see the Magic freaking **_sparking_** off of Magnus that like, literally filled the entire interrogation room, and pretend I don’t know why every other officer and criminal in the precinct looks like they want to run for the hills when he comes in the precinct, gawking like idiots.

 

I am surrounded by Supernaturals ALL the freaking time and I have to pretend I don’t see everything; I don’t see the magic or the claws or all the rest of it. I have to pretend I don’t know when the criminal I’m trying to arrest is an ogre or demon or has some kind of powers and I have to try to act like I don’t see it while trying to keep Alec safe from it and it is insane and exhausting and do you REALLY think I just keep it a secret because I think it’s funny or exciting or whatever the hell else to have a secret?!

 

I’m not keeping it a secret because I want to! I suck at being subtle and deception; I HATE it! I hate having to lie to everyone I care about and never being able to be really honest with anyone.

 

I can’t be honest with humans because they don’t know about the supernatural and I can’t be honest with Supernatural’s because they think I’m just a normal human and if they find out the truth they’ll probably try to kill me because they think _I’m_ gonna kill them and, _god damn it!_

 

I’m NOT naturally a dishonest person but it’s the only way I can have any kind of a life whatsoever.

 

I’m sorry I lied to you, okay? I’m sorry I have to lie to Alec, I’m sorry I have to lie to Luke, and Magnus and everyone else…

 

I really am and I wish there was another way, I really do…but there’s not.

 

There’s no casual way to bring up the fact that you’re a born hunter of all things supernatural- at least not one that doesn’t seem like a threat or that puts Supernaturals immediately on the defensive.” He paused, shaking his head, swallowing faintly, giving a kind of hopeless gesture, eyes near forlorn and slightly teary,

 

“I mean, look at you; yesterday everything was great, y-you were even thinking of asking me out…not an hour ago I saved your life…

 

And now you’re looking at me like you want to kill me.

 

You tell me; how should I have handled it?” he finished softly, with a kind of dejected shrug,

 

_Well, hell…when he puts it like that…_

 

They both startled at the trill of his phone, he pulls it out, seeing Magnus’s info on the screen, Simon’s standing close enough he sees it too. He seems to deflate even more, wrapping his arms around himself, glancing down,

 

“J-just do whatever you want…” he said quietly, slumping against the side of the building, rubbing at his eyes,

 

Raphael took a deep steadying breath, lifting the phone to his ear,

 

“Hey Mag’s…”

 

“Okay we’re good- hell didn’t raise, demons back in Calon tywyll and bonus, the building’s still standing…well the top of it **_is_** kind of on fire, but other than that we’re good. Did you find Simon?”

 

He nodded faintly, taking a deep breath,

 

“Yeah I found him…” he saw Simon tense up, breath stopping,

 

“He’d just got to the building when I got to the lobby, we took Alec to the hospital to get checked out, they’re keeping him overnight, but he should be released sometime the next day. I know with your spell it wasn’t really necessary but I couldn’t very well explain that to a human.” Simon’s head pops up, eyes wide, mouth open in shock,

 

Raphael shrugs, continuing with the conversation, giving a convincing chuckle,

 

“Why exactly is the building on fire?

 

You just had to make a scene didn’t you?”

 

Magnus laughed,

 

“What can I say? We needed a way to cover it, this’ll buy us time. I’m going to be busy for a while- Raj actually came back and helped. We have a lot to straighten out, I’ll call you when it’s all dealt with but it might not be till sometime tomorrow- it really is quite the mess.”

 

He shrugged,

 

“That’s fine Mag’s. Let me know if you need anything else tonight, otherwise I expect the entire story tomorrow.”

 

“Of course darling…thank you for your help tonight, you really should get home and rest, have a bite…it will help you heal.”

 

He nodded,

 

“I know, I’m planning on it…have a good night, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Night Darling…thank you again.”

 

“Of course, anything you need Mag’s. That’s what family’s for.” He finished, hanging up,

 

Simon shook his head in amazement,

 

“Y-you didn’t tell him, w-?”

 

Raphael stopped him, holding up a finger,

 

“I did not tell him **_yet_**.

 

You tell me everything; do not leave anything out…one lie, one half truth or exclusion and I tell Magnus AND Luke.”

 

Simon gasped, giving a bright, relieved smile,

 

“ _Oh thank you so much!_ You’re amazing!” he exclaimed, darting forward, hugging him tightly, before freezing, then scrambling back, blushing brilliantly, awkwardly pushing his hair back,

 

“Uh…s-sorry dude…”

 

Raphael blinked a couple times, before shaking his head in bewilderment, stepping back faintly, gesturing towards Simon’s car

 

“This really isn’t the place for it, and I have a feeling it may be a rather long conversation. My apartment is a few blocks away, in the Sunset Sky rise- and before you point it out, _yes,_ I see the irony, so did Magnus.”

 

Simon swallowed, blanching slightly,

 

“T-that’s the nest of the entire Brooklyn Vampire clan, isn’t it?”

 

Raphael shrugged,

 

“Like I said, it is my home…are you going to come with me, or not?”

 

He swallowed again,

 

“H-how do I know this isn’t some kind of trap?”

 

Raphael gave a bit of a sharp smile,

 

“You don’t.”

 

Something flickered across his expression, he took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, meeting Raphael’s gaze head on, giving a faint nod.

 

“I am asking you to trust me…suppose I can’t do that without showing you the same consideration.

 

What’s the address?”

 

Raphael shook his head, giving a bit of a surprised huff of a laugh, climbing into the passenger seat.

 

_Okay…the gwir-dyst thing was almost certainly a deal breaker, but he’d be lying if he said this brave, feisty, snarky characteristic wasn’t appealing as hell…_

 

In spite of everything he was now more curious about the young detective than ever…

 

He tried to tramp down the faint giddy flicker of something in his chest, directing him towards the apartment.

 

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Okay, I know Magnus maybe should have asked about Alec but I figure he did the spell to knock him out, surely if something was wrong he’d of done one to fix it too. he asked about Simon because all he knew was that the guy was coming to the building-_
> 
> _Figured if the building is on fire he wants to be sure Simon isn’t somewhere inside._
> 
> _As I said this one’ll be pretty Saphael heavy I love Malec but Saphael tends to sneak up and steal my heart._
> 
> _Anyways, what do you think so far?_
> 
>  


	2. How Did I Get Here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ## 💜💜Story Complete!!!💜💜
> 
> _When everything began to change for Simon…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_ Notes: _ **
> 
> _Kay so just FYI Simon’s background isn’t gonna follow canon at all- even less so than Magnus’s- pretty sure most of the characters backgrounds will differ from canon in all but the slightest ways. I know that’ll probably annoy some people but to me it just seems a lot more interesting than just repeating the same story we’ve heard over and over again._
> 
> _I didn’t know where to have Simon’s home town-I wanted something small and easy to remember so I went with Lawrence Kansas, It would fit, no real lingering accent and I remember it from Supernatural so I don’t have to keep looking it up_
> 
> _~the only state other than California I know much about is Texas and that accent **hangs on** -I love the southern twang thing, but it REALLY doesn’t fit with Simon…Kansas seems a good fit- plus I am not above using a the cheesy line ‘you’re not In Kansas anymore’ as much as humanly possible ). _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**__ **

**_  Flashback (Lawrence Kansas 2003) _ **

_Okay…it’s fine…it’s totally fine…he just has a really active imagination…he watched too much Scifi and fantasy over summer vacation and now he’s paying for it…_

_That’s it…_

 

_It’s just his imagination…_

_It is…_

_I-_

“Hey Simon, everything alright?”

 

Simon’s eyes widened, blinking rapidly, giving a quick, bobble head like nod,

 

“Y-yeah Mr. Jary…j-just a really odd summer, doesn’t seem like it should be time to start back.” He stammered out, nervously clutching his X-men lunch box to his chest.

 

The man’s brilliant, gleaming yellow eyes looked him over in concern, tilting his head in a way similar to a dog…

 

Which seemed pretty fitting as his ears had an almost wolf-like point to them, peeking out from the side of his ponytail.  Mr. Jary’s face now seemed to have a slightly elongated, muzzle like appearance, and there were sharp canines that caught in the sunlight when he spoke.

 

“Are you sure? It’s nothing else?” his eyes glinted, head tilting the other way, ears twitching slightly…it almost seemed like he was listening for something,

 

Simon again nods quickly, a bit too long, eyes widening all the more,

 

“Y-yeah…yeah I’m sure.” He stammers, swallowing again,

 

Mr. Jary shakes his head faintly, something passing behind those odd yellow eyes, but he sighs, giving a faint shrug, gesturing back towards the seats, Simon’s eyes widen more at the glimpse of sharp, wicked looking black claws,

 

“Okay well then, can you go take your seat? We really need to pick up the pace or we’ll be late. Don’t want to be late for your first day of middle school…it’s a whole different world.”

 

Simon gives a slightly hysterical, overly loud laugh, nodding quickly,

 

“Oh I’m totally getting that…s-sorry, I’ll go sit down…sorry for holding you up.” He hastily apologizes, slipping into the open seat almost directly across from the driver’s seat.

 

Mr. Jary smiles, the fangs flashing again, shaking his head, waving him off,

 

“It’s fine Simon; I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Just so you know, if there’s something bothering you or if you’re having trouble adjusting to the new school or at home or whatever else Vera’s an amazing resource. She’s the school guidance councilor and psychologist. I’m sure she’ll be at the assembly today, they do a whole introduction, welcoming ‘thing’ but she really is easy to talk to-

 

Though I might be a _bit_ bias, as I am married to her so…” he chuckled faintly, trailing off with a shrug,

 

Simon gave a surprised laugh. Jary always bragged about how smart and amazing his wife _(Partner she’d insisted)_ was. He’d been driving the school bus for well over a decade; long before Simon started school- longer than he’d even been alive.

 

He had a picture of Vera front and center right next to the rearview mirror.

 

Simon hesitantly glanced over at the picture.

 

_Even that looked different._

 

Her features looked different, sharper. Her ears were pointed, similar to Mr. Jary’s, a soft, white surrounding a light pink inner part, but slightly different and higher, nearly on the top of her head, peeking out above her light, honeyed blonde pixie cut.

 

The most striking thing was her eyes; they were no longer the light, pale grayish-blue he remembered them being, instead they were a brilliant, reflective shimmering azure blue, the pupils long and diamond shaped like a cats…

 

_Oookay…so…either he has actually officially lost it and/or overdosed on Scifi/fantasy or his werewolf bus driver is married to a **literal** cat woman…_

_He **did** say she was a psychologist, right?_

 

Catwoman or not maybe he DID need to see her…

 

_But if he did would he be able to keep from talking in nothing but bad batman puns? Cause seriously…that was his default, awkward and confusing…_

_Oh my god he SO needed to figure out what the heck is going on._

 

He knows about puberty and things changing and all that but he doesn’t remember seeing anything about suddenly seeing people you’ve known most of your life as bizarre creatures and magical beings…

 

_He knows health class was kinda boring and he’d zone out from time to time but he thinks he’d remember THAT…_

 

He’d been so desperate to figure it out he’d even nearly resorted to asking his parents before thinking better of it.

 

They had enough issues with people who were ‘different’…asking a couple of homophobic, intolerant, bigots why some people suddenly looked kinda like animals was NOT a conversation he wanted to have, regardless of how badly he wanted to figure out what was going on.

 

Maybe he would go see the school psychologist. I mean, Mr. Jary said she works at Lawrence Middle school AND does workshops at the high school-

 

_Surely she’s heard of crazier things than this…_

_R-right?_

 

This is just so insane…and it seems to be getting worse. At first it was just a bit here and there- things that he’d just assume were a trick of the light or something like that; someone’s eyes look like they glow, that guy that seems taller than yesterday, the girl who’s nails look less like nails and more like claws and he knows she doesn’t do the whole manicure thing…

 

_Simple things like that, but it’s getting more and more frequent._

 

Now there’s no way to write it off; he sees people with claws, fangs, wings, tails and scales. He sees people who shimmer and sparkle and have a bizarre flickering something or other around them. He sees horns and hooves and every conceivable, fantastical feature imaginable…

 

_It’s like his life has become a never ending comic-con…_

 

Which sounds TOTALLY awesome…but no one else seems to see it…or some do, the ones that are different too, but it doesn’t seem odd to them.

 

When it started to really set in he’d went to the mall just to people watch, and he was more confused than ever.

 

He saw a group of girls chatting and giggling, one flicking her wrist in emphasis of something she was saying, a shimmer of petals and sparkles fluttering through the air,

 

Two guys talking, looking kind of like they were flirting, leaning against the wall. One pulling out a cigarette, looking for a lighter, only for the other one to reach up and snap his fingers, a burst of flame appearing at the tip of his finger, lighting it, before blowing it out and winking- the dude seemed impressed _(which was understandable, that was smooth as heck)_ but not surprised by it.

 

But most people didn’t really seem to notice it, the ones that don’t look any different don’t seem to see the differences…even when there literally right THERE.

 

He saw some jerk run up and knock a guys drink over, him and his buddies laughing, acting all tough,

 

The guy was a good foot and a half taller than the tallest one, had horns and a snout like a bull- he looked like a freaking Minotaur, but he held his temper, quietly cleaned it up and left.

 

Simon was actually surprised that the guy just let it go…there was no doubt in his mind the guy could have totally decimated all five of the wannabe tough guys.  

 

He was seeing creatures everywhere but…it was odd…they didn’t seem to be hunting people, or up to anything bad…

 

They just acted like normal people, just going about their lives…

 

Like Mr. Jary. He seemed just like he always did; kind, funny and cheerful, he just looked different.

 

He was kinda worried about going to school. Most of his friends went out of town for summer, he spent the bulk of his vacation hiding in his room, binging his favorite shows, reading comic books and playing video games. He hadn’t really seen them all summer.

 

Who would be different? How many of the people he saw on a daily basis were whatever these people were? How many of his classmates, teachers, school staff or friends were something other than human?

 

_Alright Simon, don’t start that…take a breath…_

_It’s just your imagination…it HAS to be your imagination…_

 

Really, you’re a smart kid; what seems more likely? Creatures, monsters and magical beings walk among humans and they’re none the wiser and a kid with a major scifi fixation just happen to suddenly begin seeing them,

 

_Or,_

 

Said kid over did the whole scifi/fantasy/comic book thing over the summer and his imagination is now running wild?

 

_That has to be it._

 

Once you get back into your regular routine; going to school, hanging with Kevin and the guys, homework and so on it’ll all go back to normal…

 

_You’ll see…_

 

_This is just a bizarre side effect. Kevin’s always warning you not to overdo it on them, apparently this is what happens._

_That’ll teach you to doubt him…_

 

He chuckled faintly to himself, shaking his head,

 

Oh man, Kev is gonna have a field day with this…he’ll never let him hear the end of it.

 

They’re pulling up at his stop now; he sees the group of kids clamber on the bus, a familiar wild mess of deep brown curls catching his eye.

 

Simon freezes, heart almost stopping before starting up triple time…

 

_Oh crap… **really?**_

 

Kevin glances over, eyes landing on him; bright, sparkling and excited, nearly bouncing on his heels, giving an animated wave before slipping into the seat next to him, reaching forward, hugging him quickly.

 

“Hey Si, oh my gosh! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you in two whole months! It seems like _forever_ , I wish I could’ve called. I really, really wanted to but being out of state the calls are, like SUPER expensive and I didn’t want to get you in trouble and we were like, way busy.

 

I haven’t seen my cousins in years and it was really great. Auntie Lesya surprised us with passes to Marine World and oh wow it was such a blast! We got to go to all the shows and the rides and in the butterfly house and **_Oh!_** _It was SO funny!_

 

I didn’t know Piper’s actually like, SUPER afraid of them and he didn’t know there were, like, real, live ones out flying about. He thought they were in like, tanks or cages or something, and one landed on him and he totally froze and I thought he just didn’t want to scare it but he was actually too scared to move!

 

Which I know isn’t funny but it kinda _was_ cause the reason he’s afraid is the twins, Malik and Malia convinced him when they were little that anything colorful was, like really _super_ poisonous and dangerous and so he’s thought his whole life that butterflies were like REALLY poisonous and he thought it was gonna like sting, or bite or attack him in some way and I wanted to feel bad but Oh my goodness! Piper’s almost six feet tall and plays on the JV football team!

 

And then h…Oh…is something wrong?” he paused, tilting his head, looking Simon over worriedly,

 

Simon shook his head quickly, blinking,

 

“Umm…n-no…sorry…just not used to being up this early anymore, think I’m still asleep. S-so what happened with Piper in the butterfly house?” he asked, trying to seem interested and ignore the elf-like ears, large, wide, bright eyes, or what he was reasonably sure were horns sticking just the tiniest bit above the oh so familiar dark blackish-brown curls.

 

He blinked, looking Simon over worriedly, reaching up, idly brushing his hair back behind his ear, running his fingers through the mess of curls,

 

_Yup definitely horns…_

_At least he doesn’t have fangs though…_

_T-that’s something…_

 

He shook his head faintly,

 

“It’s…you know I’ll finish later…how was your summer? Anything interesting?”

 

Simon gave a slightly too loud laugh, shaking his head,

 

“Uh, n-no, same old, same old: too much scifi, fantasy and comic’s, so all in all pretty good, if kinda boring.”

 

Kevin giggled, rolling his eyes exasperatedly,

 

“Man, I keep telling you that’s gonna rot your brain…I love it too but it’s like candy-great here and there but a steady diet of it’ll really mess you up.”

 

Simon laughed again, nodding animatedly,

 

“Yeah…think you’re right…I may have went way past the healthy dose this summer, think I’m having trouble coming down.”

 

He grinned, quirking his eyebrow, elf ears twitching faintly,

 

“Told you so…don’t worry, I’m sure after eight hours of teachers, classrooms and hearing the dramatic retelling of the summer by the entire sixth grade class it’ll clear out all the fun, interesting fantasy stuff.” He paused, casually throwing his arm around Simon’s shoulders, squeezing slightly,

 

“In the meantime you got your best friend here to help you sort it out.

 

Don’t worry Si, I got you…” he grinned, winking one bright, bluish green doe eye, hugging him a bit closer, leaning his head against his shoulder, giving Simon a clear, unmistakable view of one of the short, light brown horns.

 

Simon gulped, nodding faintly,

 

“T-thanks Kev…seems like I’m **_really_** gonna need it.”

 

##  _ 8 hours later: _

 

_Okay, yeah, it’s official…he’s went off the deep end._

 

Nothing’s changed…or rather **_everything’s_** changed and he doesn’t have a clue how to handle it.

 

There’s a group of pixie like people _(three girls, two boys and one that he’s not really sure what gender they are but they’re almost disturbingly pretty)_ sitting over on the tables in the quad, chatting; bright, shimmering, gossamer wings sparkling in the sunlight.

 

The basketball team has two what can only be described as ogres, a werewolf, and some kind of rabbit like dude who’s shorter than him but can jump high enough to catch the rim... at least he’s pretty sure they have a heck of a shot at the playoffs…

 

_Well unless the OTHER school has a bunch of supernatural creatures on their sports teams too…_

_Which he’s just now realizing they almost certainly DO…_

 

His English teacher is some type of magic something or other- he’s blue with odd pinkish eyes and hair and when he moves the air around him shimmers.

 

The drama teacher is some type of dragon woman, and that’s not being rude; she has scales, fangs and leathery wings, and he’s pretty sure when she got really mad at some kids shoving in the hallway knocking over the bust of Shakespeare near the auditorium he saw actual smoke coming out of her mouth.

 

His science teacher is a goblin.

 

_A GOBLIN._

 

Like full on neon green skin, bright orange eyes, bat ears, goblin…

 

_He cackles…_

**_A lot…_ **

 

In every single one of his classes there are people with wings and claws and fangs and the whole nine yards…

 

_He almost stepped on an 8 th graders tail today!_

 

Then he started to apologize only to realize that they obviously don’t think he can SEE the tail so saying sorry for almost stepping on said tail would probably seem kinda odd…

 

He’d just ended up stammering, flailing, rambling and blushing, so at least he seemed like his usual self…

 

The dude thought he was trying to hit on him.

 

At least he was really nice about it and let him down gently. He said he was flattered but he already had a boyfriend, gesturing to the guy next to him.

 

Said boyfriend just laughed, winking playfully at Simon, telling him he had good taste, but he should probably go for guys closer to his own age. He had flame red hair (with **_actual_** flames flickering) like, six earrings, and black eyes with orangish-red irises…

 

So he may have sort of qusi-came out…before he even realized he was **_in_** …which was…

 

_Oh my god…SO not the point right now!_

 

He could deal with that later.

 

After he figured out why his everyday life became some crazy nonstop comic-con run amok.

 

_Seriously this was j-_

 

“Hey Simon! Wait up!”

 

He startled from his spiraling thoughts, looking around, spotting Kevin waving, running to catch up with him.

 

He caught up, giving a bright smile,

 

“Glad I found you, we’re gonna miss the bus, come on.” He finished breathlessly, catching his arm, tugging him along.

 

Simon shook his head, stopping moving, giving a faint shrug,

 

“Nah, it’s okay…it’s pretty nice out today and it was kinda a long one, I kind of just want to walk.”

 

Kevin tilted his head, elf ears twitching curiously,

 

_It was weirdly cute, but, well, that was Kevin in a nutshell._

 

“Oh…okay…do you mind if I walk with you?” he asked gently, eyes full of concern

 

Simon gave a bit of a laugh, shaking his head,

 

“Of course not…when do I ever mind having my best friend around?”

 

Kevin gave a beaming smile, falling into step beside him. They walked in companionable silence for a bit, Simon lost in the tangled mess of thoughts of the day, Kevin waiting for him to start, knowing he wanted to talk about something, but he was having trouble trying to figure out how exactly to approach it.

 

_They’ve known each other long enough to know how to read these kinds of situations…_

_Well…_

_Not that there’s ever been this **specific** situation…_

 

Simon sighed, idly kicking a rock off the sidewalk into the grass, tucking his hands into his pockets,

 

“So…is it something about your parents?” Kevin finally ventured, knowing how much their bigoted views bothered him…

 

Usually when they needed one of these ‘talks’ they were the subject.

 

He shook his head faintly

 

“No…for once it’s not them.” He shrugged, still not really sure how to broach the subject.

 

“I-is it me…did I do something?” Kevin asked softly,

 

Simon’s head whipped up, shaking quickly,

 

“NO! no…of course you didn’t…”

 

He tilted his head curiously, ears flickering, bright doe eyes scanning him, eyebrow quirking faintly…

 

“But it’s _kinda_ about me…you were acting weird on the bus this morning, and when I leaned against your shoulder you got all tense and nervous…it was almos-

 

Oh gosh…” he paused, eyes widening even more,

 

“Y-you don’t have a crush on me do you? I-Not that it isn’t like really flattering or anything and you’re really cute and fun and I really love being around you but I just don’t really think about you like that a-”

 

“Oh my god! NO! I’m not crushing on you! And seriously, did like a mass email or something go out along with the student welcome packet saying Simon Lewis is into guys? Cause you’re the second dude who thought I was hitting on him today…

 

And like the tenth that thought I was making a move on a guy and/or checking one out- which, it’s good to know so many people are cool with it but I can only deal with **_one_** crazy personal crisis at a time and I’m already smack dab in the middle of one so the sexuality crisis just has to get in line and wait!”

 

Kevin gave a surprised laugh, looking at him in surprise,

 

“What guy thought you were hitting on him?”

 

Simon flailed, gesturing animatedly

 

“ _I don’t know his name!_ He’s an 8th grader who’s tail I almost stepped on and when I tried to apologize both him and his flaming boyfriend thought I was trying to pick him up!”

 

Kevin burst out laughing, shaking his head,

 

“ _WHAT?!_ And come on, you know it’s not very nice to call someone ‘flaming’, I mean, unless they like, say it first or s-”

 

Simon groaned, pushing his hair back, shaking his head quickly,

 

“ _I don’t mean like that!_ I mean like literally flaming! Like his head was on fire, like Hade’s on the Hercules movie!  Only it was red not blue…

 

And his boyfriend had a tail like a-a- I don’t know what, a cat or fox or squirrel, something fluffy and swishy and I almost stepped on it and it fluffed up more and I went to apologize and then I realized they he wouldn’t know I saw it cause none of you seem to know I can see anything different and so I stammered and blushed and flailed like I do and he took it to mean I was trying to like, flirt or pick him up or whatever and he said he was flattered but had a boyfriend and the boyfriend laughed and told me I had good taste but I should go for a dude my own age!

 

And I don’t know what’s going on! I don’t know why I suddenly see people with wings and tails and fangs-

 

O-or horns and elf ears and literal doe eyes…” he trailed off, looking over at Kevin worriedly,

 

Kevin froze, paling, an odd dappled fawn like pattern flickering over his skin. He took a hesitant step back, swallowing, suddenly looking absolutely terrified.

 

_Oh crap…what’d he miss now?_

 

Simon cautiously glanced around, wondering if something was standing behind him, he turned around; checking fearfully, wondering what could possibly cause Kevin to look so frightened.

 

But there was nothing there;

 

He looked back at him in confusion,

 

He looked just as terrified, almost ready to cry…

 

_A-and was he standing farther away?_

 

“Uh Kev, w-”

 

“Oh god…y-you’re a…p-please don’t hurt me…” he stammered, sniffling slightly, wrapping his arms around himself protectively,

_What?_

 

Simon shook his head in confusion,

 

“What are y-” he begin, automatically reaching out to catch his arm,

 

Kevin whimpered, scrambling back, eyes wide,

 

_Wait…was he?_

“Kev…w-what are you talking about? You’re my best friend…I’d never hurt you…I’d never let anything hurt you.

 

I-It’s me…

 

I’m the guy who jumped on Tommy Wallace’s back when he pushed you off the jungle gym in second grade…

 

Come on dude…I’m really freaking out here…I-I need your help.

 

Please just tell me what’s going on? Stop acting like I’m some terrifying monster…j-just tell me what’s happening…

 

Please?” he trailed off, giving him a desperate pleading look

 

He blinked, taking a shaky, stuttering breath, eyes wide, gulping a few times.

 

“Y-you…you really don’t know?” Kevin asked softly

 

Simon flailed slightly flinging his arm up, Kevin flinched back,

 

Simon froze, shaking his head,

 

“Y…n-never mind…sorry I scared you…I-I’ll figure it out…s…sorry Kev…I really didn’t mean to scare you…I’ll just go.

 

Guess I’ll see you tomorrow in class…” he trailed off, blinking a couple times, trying to clear his eyes, turning back to the way home, feeling more alone than he can ever remember feeling.

 

He didn’t know what was going on, but whatever it was it had to be really bad…he’d never seen Kevin that scared…he was looking at him like he thought Simon was going to kill him.

 

_What could possibly make his best friend think he’d ever be any kind of threat to him?_

He didn’t see anything different about himself…But could others?

 

Was he something like the different things he was seeing?

 

_W-was he a monster?_

_What c-_

His thoughts are cut off by the sound of quick running feet behind him,

 

“Hey w-wait, Si!” a voice called

 

He stopped, Kevin catching his arm. He turned to face him, purposefully putting his hands in his pocket, stepping back, being sure to give him plenty of space, not wanting to scare him-

 

_He never wanted to see Kevin that scared again…_

 

“I-” He began, but Kevin shook his head,

 

“Si, I’m sorry.”

 

Simon tilted his head,

 

“Why are you sorry? You didn’t scare me…”

 

He sighed,

 

“I…I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I-it’s just…you’re you…I know you…you’re Simon, my best friend for almost as long as I can really remember. I know you’d never hurt me…it’s just…f-finding out your best friend is a Gwir-dyst is really frightening…it’s not something you really expect…

 

T-though…now that I think about it- a lot of what you said about your parents suddenly makes a whole lot more sense.”

 

Simon shook his head in confusion,

 

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about…what is a Geer-dist?”

 

Kevin gave a surprised laugh, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Wow…so **_every_** type of non-English pronunciation throws you, huh?”

 

Simon huffed faintly but couldn’t help a relieved smile,

 

Kev was giving him a hard time about his sucky pronunciations…

 

_It was okay…_

**_They_ ** _were okay…_

_He hadn’t lost his best friend…_

_Thank god…_

 

_Whatever else came at him he could deal…_

_He had Kev…_

 

_It was gonna be okay…_

 

Kevin gave him a bright smile, slipping his arm around his shoulders, hugging him slightly, taking a deep breath,

 

“It’s Gwir-Dyst…by the way I’m a Ceirw-dyn. NOT a faun, not a Satyr, and I swear to Pan, if you call me Krampus anywhere near Christmas I will not talk to you till Valentine’s Day.”

 

Simon laughed, half from humor, half from sheer relief.

 

_Okay, he hadn’t lost it…_

_The world was just totally insane…_

 

But at least he had his best friend to help him through it.

 

Something clicked to him, he glanced over, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Swear to Pan? Aren’t you Jewish?”

 

Kevin giggled, shrugging,

 

“Ceirw-dyn humor; couldn’t resist. So, I know who you’re talking about. Tyler and Drake- Ty’s an Llwynog-Dyn, a fox shapeshifter - shifter for short, like me. Kinda like a werewolf but not…we’re born with the ability; Werewolves are bitten.

 

I was _born_ a deer shifter, I didn’t like, get bit by a wild were-deer one night…”

 

Simon chuckled slightly at that, shaking his head faintly, glancing over,

 

“So…Mr. Jary…he’s a werewolf?”

 

 Kevin shook his head,

 

“No, he’s a Blaidd-ddyn. They’re really similar to Werewolves but they’re born with the ability-FYI do NOT call a werewolf a Blaidd-ddyn or Vice Versa. There’s a whole rivalry ‘thing’ there and, trust me, you want to avoid it.”

 

Simon tilted his head,

 

“And the guy with the flames?”

 

Kevin glanced over, thinking a moment before making a faint sound of recognition, nodding slightly,

 

“Oh Drake? Yeah, he’s actually a demon.”

 

Simon froze, blinking rapidly,

 

“Uhh….s-so a demon thinks I tried to steal his boyfriend?”

 

Kevin waved him off, smiling slightly,

 

“It’s really not what you’re thinking. Drake’s actually really cool. He’s a Trwbl poeth; it’s a type of lesser demon. They can look kinda scary sometimes but they’re really not too different from any other supernatural-

 

That’s what we’re called by the way…just like, as a population.”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“So a Gwir-Dyst is a type of supernatural?”

 

Kevin’s steps faltered a bit, he took a deep breath, shaking his head faintly…

 

“Umm…no…” he trailed off, clearly uncomfortable,

 

Simon sighed,

 

“I’m really not gonna like this…am I?”

 

Kevin sighed as well, shaking his head faintly, giving him an apologetic look,

 

“No…no you’re really not.”

 

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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 “And so that’s how I found out about the supernatural…and that most every Supernatural being thinks I’m some terrible, vicious, violent monster out to get them…” Simon sighed, trailing off, giving a faint shrug, gaze downcast, nearly ashamed.

 

Raphael was kind of at a loss for words. He wanted to tell him it wasn’t true, that they wouldn’t…

 

_But…Well…_

_It **was** the truth…_

Gwir-Dyst’s were the supernatural equivalent of the boogeyman- only they were all too real. They were what parents warned their children about. Every supernatural; every shifter, Fae, magic or whatever else, long before any abilities, powers, or obviously supernatural gifts manifest, learned about Gwir-Dyst.

 

They were all taught that if ever they encountered someone who seemed totally human but could see Supernaturals that person was going to try to kill them. They needed to get away as fast as possible, get somewhere safe and contact someone who could deal with the threat.

 

Even those who were bitten or changed into a supernatural were warned fairly quickly that there were these beings out there hunting them.

 

_And with good reason…_

He still remembered Mag’s warning him of the hunters, not even a week after he’d turned, when he was still pissed off at Magnus, Vampires, Death, his not quite life, and just the world in general, lashing out at everything. Magnus teased him now, said it was his teenage rebellion phase _(Which as he was twenty-three was a bit late, but he has to admit it more than fit his behavior.)_

 

He’d thought it was just a story…a way to keep them from causing trouble or being too obvious about their supernatural traits. A way for Magnus to get him to listen and toe the line. Little more than a means to maintain the status quo…

 

_At least he **did** …_

Until he was ambushed by four of them a few nights later when he was out alone. He didn’t have his abilities under control yet, everything still seemed off, he refused to feed, disgusted by it. He was scared and weak with hunger…

 

All but defenseless…

 

He’d tried to tell them several times that he didn’t feed, he’d never hurt anyone. He told them he’d lost everything to these monsters, he was never going to be like that, would never put someone through this, he was no threat, to them or anyone else.

 

They’d laughed, taunted him…told him of course he wasn’t a threat to them…

 

They had nearly killed him.

 

_Would have had Magnus not found them in time._

That wasn’t the only encounter with the hunters he’d had, far from it, but that was the worst.

 

_At least for **him** …_

 

He was lucky…most Supernaturals didn’t have one of the most powerful warlocks in existence as backup.

 

Gwir-Dyst’s were the main reason so many Supernaturals chose to live in larger cities as opposed to smaller, rural towns. Most would far prefer that- particularly the shifters, the majority of which really didn’t like being cooped up, but the fewer people around the more vulnerable you are.

 

 The most powerful Supernatural’s tended to choose large Cities; they would protect them, as well as the people in their territory. The more help you had access to, the closer they were, the more likely you were to be able to find someone who could actually deal with a Gwir-dyst threat.

 

Someone like A High Warlock, Alpha Werewolf or Vampire Clan Leader.

 

He’d never heard of a Gwir-dyst attack in Brooklyn, or most any large, densely populated city…but the farther out you got the more real the threat became. There were always stories; people who disappeared, went missing, just seemed to fall off the face of the earth.

 

It was something that was always there- in the back of every Supernaturals mind.  That thing that you don’t want to think about, don’t want to even contemplate because it was too horrible, but you cannot forget.

 

_You can **never** forget._

 

That first attack was nearly one hundred and twenty five years ago, but he remembers it as clearly as if it was yesterday.

 

For nearly one and a quarter centuries he’d known of these hunters; feared them, fought them, absolutely despised them- at times even hunted them. They were the stuff of nightmares for so many Supernaturals…

 

If someone told him he’d be sitting in his apartment, on his couch, trying desperately to come up with a way to comfort a freaking **_Gwir-dyst_** …h-he’d probably laugh and tell them they needed to go sleep off whatever drink/drug/spell they were hit with cause clearly it was way too strong.

 

_And yet here he is…_

_How the hell do you comfort a Gwir-dyst?_

He swallowed, scooting a bit closer on the couch, hesitantly reaching over, awkwardly patting him on the back,

 

“Umm…t-there, there…it’s okay?”

 

Simon gave a surprised, snorting like laugh, glancing over at him, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Dude…what-”

 

Raphael huffed, shaking his head, giving a slightly confused shrug,

 

“I honestly don’t know what the hell that was…Empathy, compassion and comfort really are not my strong suits.

 

My usual way of dealing with a problem is flirt, confuse, intimidate, or full on attack…this…yeah…

 

This isn’t really my area of expertise.”

 

Simon laughed again, shaking his head, glancing over, giving him a soft, amused smile that kind of made Raphael feel slightly breathless…

 

_Which was kinda odd as he didn’t actually need to breathe…_

He shrugged, smiling faintly,

 

“Well…I have heard it is the thought that counts…” Raphael offered, with a slightly careless wave,

 

Simon gave a chuckle, nodding, smile warming all the more, glancing up meeting his eyes, gaze so very soft and grateful,

 

“Y-Yeah…yeah, it really is.”

 

Raphael bit his tongue, attempting to keep in what felt worryingly like something far too close to a giggle, trying to tramp down that giddy little buzzing feeling that look caused. He glanced away, clearing his throat, fidgeting slightly, suddenly not quite sure what to do with his hands…

 

Simon sighed, shifting a bit,

 

“I really am sorry I lied to you…”

 

Raphael chanced a glance back at him, giving a faint shrug,

 

“I know you are…and honestly…you were right. There is no way to bring this up that wouldn’t almost immediately be dangerous. Truthfully if I found this out about, literally anyone other than you what Magnus would do would be irrelevant as they w…umm…

 

I-it just really wouldn’t matter.” He cut himself off quickly before he could make it any worse.

 

_Oh yeah…tell a guy anyone else in his shoes would’ve been dead…that’s SURE to put him at ease…_

He rolled his eyes faintly at himself,

 

_Can he just go back to fighting the_ _Madfall-ci? Cause that was kinda less painful than this…_

_Hell…the Demon clawing his leg open was almost less painful than this…_

_Really wh-_

His internal beratement was cut off by an odd sound, he glanced over at Simon, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Umm…when did you eat last?”

 

Simon blushed brightly,

 

“Oh my god…did you actually hear my stomach growl?”

 

Raphael chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Simon, Vampire, remember?

 

I can pick out a specific heartbeat from almost two blocks away…yes, when you are sitting a foot away I can hear your stomach growl.

 

Especially when it is that loud.”

 

Simon laughed, still blushing faintly, shrugging,

 

“Sorry…”

 

Raphael rolled his eyes,

 

“Why are you apologizing? Do you want to order something?

 

There’s a pretty good Cantonese place right across the street- at least that’s what Mag’s and Clary say…”

 

Simon smiled gratefully, nodding,

 

“Yeah, that’d be nice…thank you.”

 

Raphael shrugged, grabbing his phone, pulling up the menu, holding it out to Simon…belatedly realizing he could have probably did the same thing on his own phone…

 

Simon chuckled reaching over, taking the phone, quickly making his selection, hitting the order button before handing the phone back, giving him a warm smile, settling a little closer, turning a bit to face him,

 

“Thank you.”

 

Raphael shrugged, waving him off,

 

“It is nothing, besides I’m guessing with all of this you never ended up getting dinner, did you at least have lunch?”

 

Simon shook his head faintly,

 

“No, I was kinda upset when Alec yelled at me, so I wasn’t really hungry then. I don’t think I’ve had anything since breakfast.”

 

Raphael set up a bit straighter,

 

“What was Alec doing yelling at you?” he demanded, voice sharp,

 

He chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Dude, like three hours ago you were actually thinking about killing me…you can’t be angry at someone for yelling at me.”

 

“I-w…only because I thought you were planning on killing me…or others…and that’s beside the point- I thought you were a deadly hunter trying to infiltrate the BPD for some nefarious reason…Alec just thought you were…

 

Well… _you_ …

 

What could he have possibly been yelling at you for?”

 

Simon shrugged giving a faint sigh,

 

“It was this morning after the whole him calling Magnus out on lying thing. I was trying to smooth it over, and I was getting really frustrated because there was someone trying to summon a freaking demon for god knows what and we were wasting time going round and round about why Magnus was lying and if he’s keeping this from us than why would we share our information with him and again and again…

 

And I finally accidently snapped that maybe he was keeping it from him for his own good…which…”

 

Raphael chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Did not go over well?”

 

Simon shook his head, scoffing faintly,

 

“Uhh…no. No it did not. And he started to think that I’d been siding with Magnus pretty much since I met you guys…which…in fairness it probably felt like that but that wasn’t so much ‘siding with’ as ‘trying to keep my clueless in this respect partner from pissing off one of the most powerful beings in the supernatural world’.

 

And besides I’m okay with dealing with the usual supernatural twists to our cases but…Geez; this case has human sacrifices, enchantment runes, summoning sigils and a possible demon- and not like a normal run of the mill lesser demon- if you need Sigils to summon it that is NOT something I want to mess with.

 

I barely hold it together with the usual Supernatural stuff we come across- this was SO far out of my league it’s not even funny. I figured you guys were basically our only hope to solve it-

 

I wouldn’t even know where to begin with this. And then Alec started to say that I acted strange around Magnus just like the other’s at the station and…oh man…I was kinda freaking out cause if he said anything about me reacting to Magnus to anyone who’s been working at the precinct with me and realize that I seem human but I **_also_** seem to see a warlock…” He trailed off, shrugging, glancing over at Raphael,

 

Raphael gave a low whistle, nodding faintly,

 

“Uh…yeah…you’d of pretty much been screwed.”

 

Simon nodded back, giving a slightly flailing wave,

 

“Yup…” He muttered, popping the last syllable

 

Raphael huffed out a faint laugh,

 

“So, do you think you’ll be able to smooth it over with him?”

 

Simon shrugged, nodding,

 

“I-I think so…he’d actually called to apologize, that’s how I knew where he was when I called you guys. I really am glad we had you guys on this…I don’t know how we’d of handled this without you and Magnus.”

 

Raphael nodded, scooting a little bit closer,

 

“Yeah, this one would have been pretty much impossible without Mag’s. It was a Hanfod lladrata that was summoned; a type of Mid-Level demon. _Creepy as hell_ ; really long, gangly limbs, fingers that were at least twice as long as they should be and had two inch long claws, big, bug like orange eyes, a giant mouth with four rows of shark teeth…

 

Compared to it the Madfall-ci look downright cuddly.”

 

Simon gulped, blinking a few times,

 

“Umm…h-have I said thank you for your help? Cause seriously, that sounds like nightmare fuel for a good month.”

 

Raphael gave a short, sharp laugh, nodding,

 

“Two, minimum… and It’s actually really good that this all happened. The demon wasn’t just trying to crossover. The hexagrams and all of that were part of a spell to open a door to Calon Tywyll- um, the realm where demons originate from. If it would have succeeded it would have basically been hell on earth.

 

 The things that we have here? Lesser demons, Madfall-ci other types of Anifail, even the Hanfod lladrata? Those are nothing compared to what all could have come through.”

 

Simon stared wide eyed, before giving a faint nod,

 

“Oookay so…I’m just gonna go with thinking you’re making it seem way more dangerous than it was cause you’re trying to impress me, cause that sounds better than we were, like, one step away from hell on earth and I’m gonna change the subject now, okay?

 

_Kay…_

 

So, about the devil/dog/lizard things…”

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Llwynog-dyn =Fox-Man
> 
> Blaidd-ddyn =Wolf-Man
> 
> Trwbl poeth =Flaming troublemaker (What can I say, it made me giggle?)
> 
> _Oh my gosh! I could SO do an entire series just on Simon’s misadventures in middle school and high school…_
> 
> _I had way too much fun with this..._
> 
> _Though I did almost tear up when Kevin was afraid of Simon…I just wanted to hug them both…_
> 
> I had a lot of fun with Kevin’s run of goat-hybrids;
> 
> That was way too entertaining…
> 
>  
> 
> I know in canon Raphael was like born in the 1950’s but since I’m coming up with new backgrounds for Simon and Magnus may as well give him something  a bit different too.
> 
>  
> 
> Hey, it is an AU…may as well run with it.
> 
>  
> 
> I kinda adore Raphael trying to be comforting and kinda botching it but it still works cause he’s trying damn it…
> 
>  
> 
> So what do you think so far?
> 
>  


	3. Painful Truths And A Fresh Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _ 💜💜Chapter Complete!!!💜💜 _
> 
> Raphael opens up a bit, and Simon shares how exactly he ended up settling in what is basically the Supernatural capital of the world.
> 
>  

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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“So wait; I’m older than you?”

 

Raphael gave a sharp, surprised laugh, shaking his head,

 

“Umm... ** _no_**...Did they sneak alcohol into your food? I’m 148, you are 26. It’s subtle but there’s a _slight_ difference there...otherwise known as an entire extra digit.”

 

Simon grinned, shaking his head, mischievously quirking his eyebrow, turning all the way to face him, gesturing animatedly,

 

“Uh uh...no...You’ve been ALIVE for 148 years, but you were bitten when you were 23...which is when you stopped aging...which means **_you_** are 23 and **_I_** am 3 years older than you.” he finished triumphantly, eyes sparkling playfully,

 

Raphael burst out laughing,

 

Oh mi Dios, eres ridícula, that is NOT how it works…that is not how any of this works.”

 

Simon scoffed,

 

“ _Oh it SO is!_ You just don’t want to admit it!”

 

“It is not! How would you think that?” he laughed, shaking his head at the sheer ridiculousness of the discussion,

 

 “ _Because that’s how it works!_ I mean, okay, so, if someone was bitten when they were, like, a teenager- regardless as to how many _actual_ years they were alive after that- physically they’d still be a teenager. Maybe a really smart, strong, worldly one or whatever, but they’d _still_ be a teenager.

 

They still wouldn’t be able to go to a bar or whatever else… which come to think of it would really suck…

 

Also regardless of what year or century or whatever else they were born in anyone over the age of, like, twenty hitting on them would totally need to be on some kind of watch list and set off _all kinds_ of creep alarms.” He paused for a moment, quirking his eyebrow challengingly, smirking,

 

“Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong.”

 

“Uh…that…um…that’s not…w…” Raphael trailed off, grasping for an argument,

 

_Damn it…_

 

He glared faintly,

 

Simon absolutely beamed, bouncing excitedly, giving a bright near giggle, which made it really hard for Raphael to maintain the glare,

 

“That’s completely different.” He argued weakly

 

Simon laughed, shaking his head,

 

“No it is not!”

 

Raphael nodded, moving a bit closer, turning to face him as well, propping his elbow up on the back of the couch,

 

“Yes it is! That is special, specific circumstances. Of course if a being physically is an adolescent that would be a factor. However in general that is not the case-

 

And I mean even in human society intergenerational relationships are not all that uncommon. It is not overly unusual to see someone in their twenties dating someone in their thirties or even older- depending on the age gap it can seem rather unorthodox, but in general it is usually accepted…and that’s just concerning humans.

 

With immortals it’s far more complicated than that, trying to apply the same constructs does not really work. I mean, if you have a human barely twenty dating another human four or five decades older than them it seems creepy as hell and there is almost certainly something untoward going on there…

 

But with immortals it is simply not the same thing. So long as whoever is involved is an adult- in every capacity- then the actual number of years is irrelevant.

 

I am an adult, so therefore it is not a factor.”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“Yes, yes you are, I totally agree.”

 

_Ha! Got him, th-_

 

“You are an adult…an adult that is still _physically_ three years younger than me.” He finished with a smirk

 

Raphael groaned

 

“No I’m n-”

 

“Yes you are. Face it dude, I totally got you.”

 

Raphael rolled his eyes, trying to fight off a smile,

 

The guy was just so damn cute, bright, and enthusiastic and this playful, smirking, challenging thing was worryingly appealing,

 

Still…he wasn’t just gonna give up,

 

Even if he kinda thought Simon actually DID have him on this one

 

He tilted his head

 

 “Okay sabelotodo, then how does your little theory apply to actual born immortals, like Magnus? He looks thirty tops, and that’s a stretch…he wasn’t bitten or changed, they just reach a certain point and kind of stop, generally sometime around their mid twenties or so-

 

How does that factor in?” he smirked, quirking his eyebrow,

 

Simon leaned closer, giving a slight laugh,

 

“Okay, well first off, I don’t know what ‘zapato’ means but by your tone I’m guessing it’s an insult, so same to you, but that’s totally different anyways.”

 

Raphael snickered, shaking his head, quirking his brow,

 

“Umm…no… and wow you most definitely did not lie about having trouble with pronunciation-

 

There’s a slight difference between ‘zapato’ and ‘sabelotodo’

 

I did not call you a shoe; I called you a smartass.”

 

Simon laughed, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Well…at least it was an actual word in the right language, that’s better than usual, I’m counting it as a win. And it IS different. Like you said, they stop randomly or gradually or whatever, with vampires you know exactly when…I mean you can pinpoint it to the year, day, hour, everything…

 

That’s totally different than just gradually stopping aging…

 

By the way, just out of curiosity, exactly how old _is_ Magnus? I’d guess a couple centuries just from what I’ve heard- well, what Kevin has heard and relayed to me as obviously no one was telling me about the High Warlock of Brooklyn.

 

I have to admit it was kind of unbelievably cool meeting you guys…both of you. I mean one of the main reasons we chose Brooklyn was because it was so well protected- most of which is because of you two…” he trailed off, blushing faintly, giving a kind of sheepish smile that gave Raphael that odd, breathless giddy feeling again,

 

“Honestly, it took near everything I had not to act like a giddy, dorky fanboy when I met Magnus- or at the scene…

 

Oh my god! It was just so cool! I’ve never seen anything like it, I mean I’ve known magics and Fae’s and warlocks and all that before but, **_dude_** , none of them even hold a candle to Magnus. It was SO hard to keep Alec’s attention and not just stand around gawking like an idiot.”

 

Raphael chuckled, giving a slight nod, shrugging,

 

“Yeah, I can understand that- think I reacted the same way when I first met him- and I couldn’t even see all that, this was just to the general...‘Magnus-ing’. It really is something else.

 

Hell, I’ve known him 125 years and I still am kind of blown away by some of the things he can do-

 

Like the spell on the apartment, or well…any spell in general…

 

I swear, it’s a total spectacle, you could charge admission. I sometimes wonder how much of it is actually necessary and how much is just the Magnus ‘dramatics’.

 

The one he used to find out about Raj-the guy being manipulated by the demon? It involved like two languages, sparks, smoke, a column of midnight blue fire and some crazy slideshow complete with being able to feel the emotions of those involved.”

 

Simon shook his head in amazement eyes wide,

 

“Dude…that is SO cool…”

 

He paused tilting his head curiously, glancing around before looking back at Raphael,

 

“What Spell on the apartment?”

 

Raphael nodded, settling closer, gesturing over to the windows that encompassed most of the far wall,

 

“Do you see anything unusual about the windows?”

 

Simon looked over, scanning for whatever would stand out, before quirking his eyebrow, glancing back at Raphael

 

“You don’t have any blinds or curtains…” he tilted his head in confusion

 

“I…but…you’re a vampire…how?”

 

Raphael shrugged,

 

“Magnus.

 

We bought the building about five years ago; it was a kind of gift for the entire clan to commemorate a kind of second chance. He put a spell over the entire building. It looks totally normal from the outside, just seems like normal, tempered glass, but it blocks all of the UV rays in the sunlight allowing us to move around the building at all hours of the day without you know, bursting into flames.

 

Thanks to him we have something that every other vampire can only imagine.”

 

Simon blinked a few times, shaking his head faintly

 

“h…I don’t…w…”

 

Raphael chuckled, nodding faintly

 

“Yes, that was our reaction, too. I think the entire first month the entire clan just set by the windows looking out at the city in the daylight.”

 

He gave a slight whistle, eyes wide,

 

“Dude…that is just insane.” He paused a minute, something else seemingly occurring to him,

 

“A second chance for what?” he almost seemed to startle, shaking his head,

 

“Oh, umm…sorry I keep asking questions i-it’s just, like I said, Kevin is the only Supernatural that I’ve ever really been able to talk to about, well any of this and, don’t get me wrong I love him and he’s awesome and without the guy I’d be totally lost, but like he doesn’t really know much about Vampires and Magic and all of that and, it’s just so fascinating actually talking to someone who like, really knows this stuff,

 

Sorry…if it gets too much just let me know, I’ll drop it, I know I can be a lot sometimes.”

 

Raphael smiled, shaking his head faintly, settling a bit closer, giving him a slight shrug, and careless wave.

 

“It is no problem Simon, I can’t even imagine how frustrating it must be seeing all of this, knowing all of it but having to pretend you don’t, knowing that if you slip up it could very well cost you your life. Having to do that for over half your life…I…honestly I do not know how you did it.”

 

Simon blushed faintly, brushing his hair back, scooting in a bit more, shrugging slightly,

 

“Yeah, honestly I don’t know how I made it this long either. I mean, really it’d be hard for anyone but oh my god, I am like, flat out the worst person for this! I talk nonstop, I ramble and stumble and even I can’t keep track of everything I’m saying…

 

And then there’s the fact that I am a TOTAL nerd and, really I’m actually completely good with that but, dude- you don’t even know. All my life I’ve been totally obsessed with sci-fi, fantasy, comics, and all of that- literally for as long as I can remember…

 

Then one summer my entire world turns on its head and I start to see things that are like right out of all of that. People with magic and powers and shapeshifters, and vampires and like every other amazing, fantastical thing I could imagine,

 

My life turned into like a nonstop comic-con…

 

Only I couldn’t even acknowledge it! Cause if I did all the cool, amazing, unbelievable people I saw would think that I was a threat, I was after them, would run away and try to find someone who would be able to kill me…

 

It’s like a hell specially designed for nerds.”

 

Raphael gave a slight surprised laugh, immediately feeling guilty,

 

“S-sorry, I d-”

 

Simon shook his head, waving it off,

 

“No it is funny…in a kinda odd, twisted way…and I’m gonna tell you I will end up getting on your nerves about it, I know myself well enough to know that.

 

Honestly whenever that happens, let me know I’ll back off, cause, really you are only the second supernatural I’ve ever got to talk to about this and like I said I love Kev, but he mainly knows about Shifters, what different Supernaturals are and…well, that’s about it.

 

I mean he doesn’t know about Magic, or vampires, or that Demon realm thing, or those demon/lizard/dogs or like, any of that stuff.

 

Like seriously he’s the same age as me, he knows what his family has taught him but…with you…

 

Just… ** _wow_** …

 

I mean you have been living as a supernatural for one and a quarter centuries; you have thrived as one. Your best friend is like, literally one of the most powerful beings in the supernatural world…

 

Y-you know about all of it; magic, and demons and creatures and more than I can ever even begin to imagine…you not only know it like from books or lessons or whatever, you have lived it…

 

You have no idea how unbelievable that is to me. So, like I said, I’m probably gonna ask a million questions and I don’t know how to shut up and I get WAY too excited about things and it’s gonna get on your nerves so I’ll say sorry in advance cause I know it’s a lot to deal with. 

 

Whenever it gets to that point seriously, just let me know and I’ll give it a rest, and really just thank you so much, the fact that I am actually getting to sit here and talk to you, really talk to you about all of this, not having to lie or hide or any of it, I really never thought that would happen, never even imagined it.” he finally trailed off, slightly breathless, cheeks flushed, eyes bright and sparkling, nearly bouncing with energy

 

_It was unbelievably charming,_

 

Raphael gave a faint chuckle, shaking his head, scooting a bit closer, stretching his arm out along the back of the couch,

 

“If it happens I will let you know lindo, but I really don’t see that happening. As I said I cannot imagine how you have kept this to yourself for so long. If you ask something that seems too personal or what have you I might not answer, but other than that it is more than okay.” He shifted, giving a faint shrug,

 

“So, back to what brought this up, what I meant about the building signifying a second chance. I don’t know how much you know about the issues we had, but it was a lot…truthfully the entire clan came very close to being wiped out, and for good reason.

 

The only thing that stopped it was me taking over, promising to get it back in line and Mag’s not so veiled threat that a pissed off High Warlock was a hell of a lot more dangerous than a rouge Vampire clan.”

 

Simon shook his head faintly,

 

“Dude…I did not know all that. Kev just heard that there were some problems with the clan and that they were really dangerous but…

 

Wow…

 

What happened? I umm…I mean…o-only if you don’t mind telling me of course…not tha-”

 

Raphael waved him off, giving him a slight smile,

 

“Well, generally I am rather guarded, but seeing as I pretty much forced you to tell me every last detail of the biggest secret of your life, I suppose I owe you a bit of openness.”

 

Simon shook his head faintly

 

“You really don’t. It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, I understand, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or anything.”

 

Raphael smiled,

 

“I really don’t think that would be much of a problem with you.

 

So, before me the leader of the Brooklyn clan was Camille Belcourt…” he paused, shaking his head, rolling his eyes faintly,

 

“An ex of Magnus’s. We never really got a long, there was a lot of drama after their relationship…and during it…

 

I actually threw a party when they broke up; I knew there’d be issues being in her clan but, well, Vampires do not do well without a clan, and when Magnus and I decided to move here it was the only option.

 

Anyways, Camille kind of went off the deep end. She began preying on humans, actively hunting them, all but throwing out the accords. A few of the clan, those closest to her begin to do the same, feeling that they were above humanity, that as they were stronger and faster they were entitled to prey on them.

 

That is unacceptable.  Breaking The accords- the agreements between the different factions; Magics, shifters, Fae, Lesser Demons, and so on that ensure peace between Supernaturals and humans alike, is a serious crime, and with good reason. They are why we are all able to live peacefully in a civilized society among humans, rather than warring, hunting and rampaging…

 

It is why Supernaturals have been able to stay hidden for so long, why you don’t have panic in the streets or most every human totally losing their minds from the knowledge of the supernatural.

 

 From time to time you get rouge vamps here and there, smaller clans sometime’s go rouge- and really five or six rouge vamps is of little consequence- easily dealt with.

 

However the Brooklyn clan was one of the largest in the country, at the time we had close to sixty members.

 

That is another story entirely.

 

Her actions were discovered and the entire clan was called up in front of the council on charges of disobeying the accords, thought to be a threat to both humanity and the continued existence of Supernaturals everywhere.

 

Had we been deemed a big enough threat the entire clan would have either been put to death or exhaled to one of the realms cut off from the human world, like Calon tywyll- so basically death either way.

 

It was actually quite close…I was able to show that only a handful of the members were part of this, that most of us didn’t even know it was going on, and I assured them that I would do whatever I had to to set things right and get the entire clan back in line.

 

That still was not enough for some members; the council consists of twenty, some of the most powerful members of the different factions-

 

Magnus has actually been asked repeatedly to join but…well…

 

He’s _Magnus_ ;

 

 ‘Joining’ isn’t really his thing.

 

Plus if he’s part of the council he can’t use his ‘The rules don’t apply when you’re older than them’ logic.

 

In any case in something like this the decision must be unanimous and there were quite a few that flat out thought we were too dangerous.

 

Magnus had came with me to help with our defense, he really did try to let me handle it, and I did as much as I could but it just wasn’t enough to convince them all that we could do it.

 

Finally, after I’d exhausted all my arguments-and I could see that it was really not looking good for us- they began to stand to leave the room for their deliberation.

 

Only then Mag’s did some fancy, flickering, unnervingly powerful, I’m not really sure what, and everything just changed. Shimmering images of terrifying creatures, monsters, and demons appearing, glimpses of fights, of slashing claws and gnashing fangs, a huge dizzying jumbled mess of every horror and nightmare vision you could imagine, but more than images, you could hear them, smell them, hear hearts beating and shrieks, feel their breath.

 

He snapped his fingers and just as suddenly as they appeared they were gone, it was just the two of us and the council standing in an empty room.

 

The head of the council asked why he did that; Manus smirked, shrugging,

 

He said those were just a few of the things that he has faced over the past eight centuries, some of which they’d never seen, never heard of, never even imagined. He reminded them of all the times they have called on him to deal with an issue, all the times he’s been the only one who could…

 

Reminded them that for all the knowledge they had on him none of them truly knew all of his abilities, or what he was capable of if pushed far enough.

 

He told them I was his family, and the clan was mine. If they tried to carry out their sentence they would have to go through him.

 

Then he snapped his fingers and the rest of the clan appeared back, no discernible time had passed, the clan didn’t even know we’d left.” Raphael paused, shaking his head, giving a slight chuckle,

 

“They had their answer in less than an hour. A kind of probation, with mandatory inspections to be sure we were moving in the right direction.

 

It was by far the best we could have possibly hoped for. Still it required a lot of work, and a lot of very difficult decisions on my part. Camille had more followers than I had originally thought, and there were other’s that- while not to that extent- were engaged in other things that could bring the clan once more under fire.

 

We now have just over thirty members, but every one of them I know I can trust with my life, or the lives of those I care about.

 

We bought the building five years ago, when the probation was finally lifted, when we were truly cleared.” He stopped, glancing over at Simon,

 

He was staring, eyes wide as saucers, mouth slightly open, totally frozen,

 

Raphael tilted his head, leaning in a bit, somewhat concerned,

 

“Simon, are you okay?”

 

He finally seemed to snap out of whatever that was almost startling, flailing animatedly

 

“Dude! Oh my god! T-that is like…I-oh my god, that is insane…h…dude…that’s just…I don’t even know what to say to that, except remind me never to piss Magnus off…I mean, not that I didn’t already know that but…

 

Really…

 

Wow…” he shook his head in amazement, giving Raphael a slightly starstruck look

 

“You are incredible.”

 

Raphael shook his head, shrugging faintly,

 

“Magnus was the one who saved us. He kind of tends to do that…I really wasn’t lying when I said I wouldn’t be standing here without him.

 

He has saved my life so many times; but then he kind of feels like since he couldn’t the first t…” he trailed off…this wasn’t really something he talked about, but…Simon seemed like something else,

 

He took a deep breath, moving a bit closer.

 

Simon seemed to sense it, shifting closer, reaching up, resting his hand on his, squeezing gently,

 

He sighed, turning his hand, catching his hand, idly playing with his fingers,

 

“So…I…I said when I first met him I was amazed too…and I couldn’t even see all of that…”

 

Simon tilted is head, slipping a bit closer,

 

“Y-you met him before you turned?” he asked softly,

 

Raphael nodded, glancing back up,

 

“Yes, I met him about a week before I died.”

 

Simon’s breath caught, he squeezed his hand gently, thumb lightly running over his knuckle

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Raphael gave a slight huff of a not quite laugh, glancing up at him,

 

“I was too…but I try to think it was for the best. I didn’t want this, w-would never have chose it…but…

 

I do not know. In all honesty I did not fit then…” he scoffed, shaking his head,

 

“Though to be fair I don’t really now either-

 

But in a small, very religious, conservative, machismo obsessed town in 1890’s Mexico an asexual with homoromantic inclinations is like a…

 

Well…

 

I do not think there’s much that would compare to that.”

 

Simon huffed out a slight laugh nodding faintly, settling closer; Raphael gave a faint smile back, shrugging, settling in as well, beginning to tell the hardest story of his not quite life.

 

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

“A-and the next thing I remember is waking up, realizing I was underground…that I was buried, trying to scream, gasp for air… t-to dig myself out.” he trailed off, voice nearly a whisper, wrapping his arms around himself.

 

Simon shook his head faintly, totally at a loss as to what to say. Hesitantly he scooted in closer, slipping his arm around the other man. Raphael froze for a moment, Simon began to pull away, worrying he’d overstepped, but instead Raphael turned into it, slipping his arm around the other man pulling him closer. Simon’s breath shuttered, he reached up, wrapping his other arm around him, hugging him tightly, running his hand soothingly over Raphael’s back.

 

_Damn…_

_H-he…okay…so he knew what a vampire was, that they died, came back, but…_

**_Damn…_ **

 

_He couldn’t imagine the horror of that, the panic, confusion, the sheer terror of being buried alive._

 

Simon fought down a shiver, hugging him a bit tighter before pulling back faintly shaking his head once more,

 

“I am SO sorry.” He said softly, at a loss for anything else,

 

Raphael shrugged faintly,

 

“I-It was a long time ago…I don’t think about it much anymore.” He whispered,

 

Simon shook his head, meeting his eyes,

 

“I really shouldn’t have brought it up-”

 

Raphael gave him a faint almost smile, shaking his head, meeting his eyes,

 

“You didn’t…I did. It’s okay…it was horrible at the time and painful and terrifying, b-but it is what has to happen. It is how every Vampire’s second life begins.

 

It is the only way we can come back.”

 

Simon shook his head,

 

“Man…Buffy SO got that wrong.” He blurted out, before realizing he actually said that out loud, blushing brightly, sheepishly covering his eyes,

 

_Oh my god, he is such an idiot_

 

Raphael’s eyes widened in surprise, he burst out laughing, shaking his head,

 

“Umm…y-yes…yes they did. That part doesn’t really make it into pop culture too terribly often.”

 

Simon blushed more, giving a slight shrug,

 

“I’m s-”

 

Raphael shook his head, rolling his eyes faintly

 

“Stop apologizing lindo, it is more than okay. I do not believe I have ever actually _laughed_ while telling my tragic return to life story…it is a nice change of pace. More than appreciated.”

 

Simon laughed, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Hey, if that’s the case than you totally chose the right person to tell; awkwardly blurting out ridiculous, oddball, thoroughly out of place things is totally my go to move… _well_ , not so much ‘go to’ as that implies I actually have some kind of control over it and it’s not just my mouth running faster than my brain can keep up but it is _totally_ my thing.”

 

Raphael chuckled, smiling softly,

 

“You are _completely_ ridiculous.”

 

Simon nodded

 

“Yeah, I know, I’m kinda good with it though…well not so much ‘good with it’ as ‘have long since given up on trying to change it cause it’s a total lost cause’ but it’s fine…If anything I like who I am.”

 

Raphael nodded, smiling gently, eyes surprisingly warm,

 

“Yeah, I do too.”

 

Simon flailed slightly, blushing,

 

“Wow…thank you that’s really gr-wait. What do you mean? That you like who _I_ am or like who _you_ are? Oh! uh, Not that you shouldn’t-I just, I mean you totally should like who you are cause you’re really amazing and like the coolest person I’ve ever met, but if you meant it like you like who I am then umm…t-that’s really good…too…” he trailed off blushing brighter, cut off by Raphael’s barely contained laughter,

 

He started to pull away, embarrassed, but Raphael caught his hand, tugging him back, shaking his head apologetically,

 

“Sorry lindo, I did not mean to laugh- and it wasn’t about what you were saying…just… Oh mi Dios, eres tan adorable cuando estás nervioso.” He chuckled again,

 

Simon blushed, settling a bit closer,

 

“Okay…umm…you saw how bad I am at pronunciation, and I have no clue what most of those words mean, except oh my god, but one of them was adorable, so unless that has a vastly different meaning in Spanish I’m guessing that’s a good thing, so thank you.”

 

Raphael smiled, nodding faintly,

 

“It doesn’t, and yes it was good…and your question before, the first one. I like who you are as well; you are sweet and kind, and funny- not always intentionally but still-, you are brave, and selfless and compassionate.

 

I am pretty sure you are one of the best people I have ever met.”

 

Simon swallowed, blinking in shock

 

“Umm…t-that..umm…wow.” he trailed off, blushing brightly,

 

Raphael shook his head in amazement,

 

“I…I don’t mean to keep coming back to it, but it just seems totally unreal that you are a Gwir-Dyst.” He sighed, settling even closer, reaching up, gently brushing a lock of Simon’s hair back, tucking it behind his ear,

 

Simon’s breath stuttered faintly, automatically leaning into the touch,

 

“Umm…t..” he paused, clearing his throat, trying to get his voice to work right, giving a faint nod,

 

“Yeah…I know…usually I have a hard time believing it myself. It’s just a part of me…something I have no say in, no control of…

 

Most of the time I try to just ignore it, try to forget just how horrible Gwir-dyst’s are…try to forget that supernatural’s aren’t just overreacting or being overly cautious when they panic at the mere mention of the word.

 

It’s not like with Raj; they’re not misinformed or being manipulated or whatever into irrationally fearing something that is different.” he sighed, shaking his head, taking a shuttering breath, looking back up, meeting Raphael’s eyes,

 

“I’ve been able to see the Supernatural since I was eleven…I’ve met werewolves, demons, goblins…I’ve probably met near every creature that has ever featured in human nightmares.

 

But the worst monsters I have ever encountered are the ones that are just like me…particularly the ones in my own family.”

 

Raphael swallowed, a flicker of recognition flitting behind his impossibly dark eyes, slipping his arm protectively around Simon’s shoulders, tugging him a bit closer,

 

“Y…you said a big part of the reason you and Kevin chose Brooklyn was because it was so well protected.”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“Yeah… It’s kinda a risk, living in what is essentially the supernatural capital of the world. I mean if a Supernatural figures out what I am I will almost certainly be killed, I know that…but I will take that any day over the possibility of another Gwir-dyst finding me.

 

A supernatural Might kill me, but with most I’d have a slight chance of explaining…the chance is nearly non-existent, but it IS there…

 

If a Gwir-dyst finds me, I **_will_** be killed, there’s no two ways about it.”

 

Raphael shook his head,

 

“Well m-”

 

Simon cut him off, shaking his head quickly,

 

“No, you don’t understand. I don’t mean they’ll kill me cause their violent and that’s what they do…

 

I mean so far as the Gwir-dyst population is concerned I am worse than any supernatural in the world today; I am an abomination, a mistake, a blight to their very existence. Killing me would bring a Gwir-dyst more credit, recognition, power and respect than the death of, literally any supernatural.”

 

Raphael blinked, tilting his head in confusion,

 

“What…h…what do you mean? I…is it just because you choose not to hunt us?”

 

Simon shrugged, giving a slightly aggravated flip of his hand,

 

“Partly…that really does not sit right with a lot of them, but it’s mainly because when I was sixteen I turned in two of the most prolific Gwir-Dyst’s in recent history to the human police, giving them enough evidence to put them away for life for dozens of crimes, attacks and murders…as well as open investigations into over a hundred other Gwir-Dyst’s and numerous clubs and associations used for fronts for them throughout the country and further.”

 

Raphael’s eyes widened in shock, shaking his head faintly,

 

“W-wait…when you were…six…so…” he shook his head again, scooting a bit closer,

“The Reckoning of the Hunters? That…that was **_you_**?”

 

Simon blinked,

 

“I didn’t know it had like an actual name type thing…but umm…yeah...

 

H-how much do you know about it?”

 

 Raphael shrugged, still looking slightly amazed

 

“Umm…not…not a lot. The records of what started it were sealed, and I know it wasn’t just sealed politically; it’s magically sealed so the Gwir-Dyst’s couldn’t go after the human. All we knew is that a human found out about the hunters…they didn’t know about the supernatural, just thought the people were murderers, they took all the information they could get on the couple to the police and it just snowballed, leading to the largest blow to the Gwir-dyst community on record…

 

B-but…there’s more to it, yes?”

 

Simon swallowed nervously, giving a nearly imperceptible nod,

 

“Y-yeah…there’s a lot more. It wasn’t a human that found out, that turned them in, it was another Gwir-dyst…

 

And they weren’t just any Gwir-dyst.

 

They were my parents.”

 

“Dios…” Raphael breathed,

 

He nodded,

 

“Yeah…” he paused, taking a deep breath, Raphael shifted him slightly, settling him against his side, lightly trailing his hand over his back,

 

Simon took a shuttering breath, cuddling a bit closer, resting his head on Raphael’s shoulder,

 

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to…” he offered, voice barely a breath,

 

Simon shook his head faintly against his shoulder,

 

“N-no…it’s okay, I want to.” He took another deep, steadying breath, beginning,

 

“So, by the time I got to high school I pretty much had a handle on the whole ‘gwir-dyst in disguise’ thing. I kept it from everyone except for Kevin. The kids at school thought I was just a normal, kinda awkward human- I think my natural clumsiness and blathering actually helped me hide it-

 

I talked so much no one could imagine I could actually keep a secret, and Gwir-Dyst’s are supposed to be quick, serious, and agile…

 

I have the ability to actually trip while standing still. No one thought I was anything other than human…including my parents.

 

L-like I said, I’d never really got along with them too well…my entire life I thought they were racist, homophobic bigots…then when I was eleven my world turned upside down and I realized they WERE all of those things only so much worse.

 

They didn’t really pay too much attention to what I was doing or who I was hanging around with, always caught up in something else, they just kind of let me go on my own. I never introduced them to any of my friends- even before that- a lot of my friends were different, different races or religions or seemed more ‘touchy feely’ then what was ‘normal’. I couldn’t stand the thought of them saying or doing something that would hurt their feelings…

 

I thank god every day I listened to my instincts on that, because it terrifies me to think what they’d of done to someone like Kev, or Tyler, or Drake, or any of the others.

 

A-anyways…

 

With Kevin’s help I made it through middle school, adjusted to the fact that I could see all these amazing things about people and slowly I started to fall into a rhythm. It did bother me that so many of my friends- if they really knew what I was would be terrified…I wanted to tell them, to explain, but Kev always talked me out of it…

 

I-I kind of thought maybe he was just being overly cautious…that maybe it was like with humans, you know?

 

Maybe they’ve just heard so much about the absolute worst of these ‘Gwir-dyst’ and were just scared because they only ever hear of the bad ones.

 

I actually came really close to telling a couple people, but anytime I’d get close I’d remember how terrified Kev looked when he first found out.

 

H-how he flinched away from me as if I was going to strike or attack him.

 

I never wanted to see that…to have someone look at me like that.

 

I never even thought about telling my parents I could see the Supernatural’s. I didn’t know how much of the whole ‘Gwir-dyst’ thing was part of how they acted and how much of it was just, you know, normal homophobia and bigotry.

 

I think I’d on some level knew I wasn’t totally straight before I even knew I was a gwir-dyst, I knew a lot of the things they’d say would probably apply to me just as much as any stranger…or more so.

 

Kevin had heard somewhere that being a Gwir-dyst is tied to a specific gene or something and sometimes it skipped, so by the time high school rolled around I’d already figured I’d just play clueless about the whole ‘Gwir-dyst’ thing …figured if I didn’t bring it up they’d never know that I knew, just assume it skipped me, probably write it off as nothing and it would all just pass.” He trailed off, shaking his head faintly,

 

Raphael reached up, lightly running his fingers through his hair, Simon sighed, leaning into the touch,

 

“I take it that is not what happened?” he asked softly,

 

He scoffed bitterly, shaking his head

 

“No…it’s not.

 

It was the weekend after my sixteenth birthday. I was in my room trying to figure out what I wanted to wear that night. Kevin and a bunch of our friends were having a kind of thing for me at the arcade, then there was this big party at Drakes, his birthday was actually just two days after mine - after the whole him thinking I was hitting on his boyfriend we actually became pretty good friends, me and Tyler too- though Drake would always tease me about trying to steal his boyfriend, and Tyler would always joke that I was just checking out his ‘tail’, totally oblivious to the fact that that was kind of closer to the truth than he realized.

 

Anyways, I was getting ready when my parents came into my room…it was kind of odd, like I said we didn’t really talk a lot, they got more closed off the longer it went with me never bringing up the Supernatural thing. They’d ask me from time to time leading questions- about if anything’s been different, but I just played it off like I thought they were talking about puberty and they’d just let it go.

 

But this was different- they started with the questions again, and I played it off like usual, but they didn’t let it go…seemed to get agitated, but I just kept playing dumb, trying to wave them off, saying I had forgot a book over at my lab partners house and had to go get it.

 

They didn’t buy it, kept getting more and more agitated, finally they told me to come with them that they needed to show me something.

 

I…I knew there was something wrong but I didn’t know what to do. Kevin had told me about how humans react to the supernatural, I’d assumed if I never brought it up, that they thought I didn’t have the Gwir-dyst gene or whatever that they’d just ignore it…I mean…I never thought they’d actually bring it up knowing how dangerous it is to a normal humans psyche…

 

I…I guess I was wrong…o-or maybe they thought the gene was just dormant and needed a shock or…I really don’t know what…

 

I don’t think they actually cared if the knowledge broke me…

 

They wanted me to be what they were…if I wasn’t born one they got it in their heads they could just make me one.” He paused swallowing,

 

Raphael gave a quiet gasp,

 

Simon took a deep breath continuing,

 

“S-so…our house was always kinda odd looking to me…not all of it, most of it seemed really normal, but the basement always seemed really off…it wasn’t even half the length of the first floor…I’d asked about it once, they’d said someone had walled up part of it, making a bomb shelter sometime in the sixties…

 

Which seemed weird, cause there was no door.

 

Well, it turned out there was, it was just hidden behind an old book case shoved into the corner and had a kind of number lock.

 

They took me down stairs, put in the code to unlock the door…

 

T-they…god…the room was filled with things, souvenirs, trophies of all the ‘monsters’ they’d killed.

 

Tails, horns, claws, teeth…there were weapons, dozens of them. There was an entire box of ID’s and personal effects, and pictures of a lot of the victims.

 

I knew some of them- not personally…just as people I’d seen around town that I had thought moved.

 

They started to explain everything, telling me of these monsters that infested the world, that we were supposed to wipe them out- telling me don’t be fooled the pictures weren’t of people-even if they looked normal they weren’t people- they were monsters. They said I should be able to see them…said even normal humans can get to where they could see the creatures-

 

Said that until I could they’d just tell me who wasn’t really human…that they’d just take me along on hunts with them until I got to seeing them…

 

T-they said they had one planned for that night…

 

That there was a huge gathering of the monsters…i-it would be too many to actually kill with weapons, but most of the creatures are vulnerable to fire…

 

They’d just set the place on fire and pick off whatever tried to get out.

 

Said it was the easiest way when it was a large group- but not nearly as ‘fun’… assuring me that a few of them would get out as there were actual demons in attendance and that kind was immune to fire.” he swallowed, even now a decade later remember how sick he felt at this

 

Raphael ran his hand up his back again, tugging him a bit closer

 

“It w-”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“It was Drakes party they were targeting…I- I recognized the address…I didn’t know what to do, but I couldn’t let that happen, I couldn’t.

 

I…I pretended like I didn’t really believe them…got as much information as I possibly could, asked about everything…I c-convinced them that I agreed…that I wanted to help…got all the details I could for the plans for the night, told them I had to pick up my history book from a guy at school…I remembered him saying he was going to the party and he was expecting me to stop by to get it-

 

I told them if I didn’t show up after I’d already told him I was coming by it might seem kind of suspicious. They agreed, said they had to pick up some things for tonight as well and let me go; I agreed to meet them out by the property at 9…

 

I grabbed a couple of the things from the room, small easily missed things- a few of the ID’s and a Celtic knot necklace that I remembered seeing on a girl in a missing poster.

 

I left the house and went straight to the police station. It was a pretty small station; there were only four Supernaturals at the station- a Lion like shifter, a troll, and two Lesser demons.

 

I purposefully didn’t go to them…I didn’t want to chance them going after my parents alone…I didn’t want them getting a shot at anyone else.

 

I went up to the desk sergeant and told them I had information on murders, that these people were planning an attack and it was going to happen tonight…

 

He didn’t really believe me but I told him I had proof- I gave him the necklace and the ID’s…a search turned up that they had been missing…he called the chief, I told him everything- well what I could- I said My parents were insane, they’d convinced themselves they were monster hunters and all of these people were actually monsters…

 

I told them about the basement and told them of the planned attack on the party. Thankfully they believed me, they begin to mobilize, organized a sting…I actually wore a wire, went to meet with them, got them to lay out everything…had a full confession of the plan, and more information on some of the other cases.

 

Just as they begin to move for the property the cops moved in, arrested them.

 

I went right up to the officers in charge, two humans and one of the demons- it actually turned out he was Drake’s uncle, Caden.

 

I thanked them, shook their hand…when I shook Caden’s hand I looked back over at them. I wanted them to know that I did see them, that I knew what was going on…

 

That I had known the entire time.

 

I looked Caden right in the eye and told him they were the worst monsters I could ever imagine, far worse than any of the ‘monsters, creatures or demons’ they had told me about. I kind of think Caden may have realized, but he never asked.

 

 I gave them the code to the door- I’d saw it when my dad had put it in- told them I would cooperate in any way they needed, gave them every name I’d ever heard them mention…I…at that point I don’t think I even really cared what happened with me, I just wanted my friends to be safe, I wanted these monsters off the streets, where they couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.

 

That was more important than anything.

 

I don’t regret it…I never have, not even once.” He trailed off, giving a faint shrug,

 

Raphael shook his head, tugging him a bit closer, again carding his fingers through Simon’s hair, just sitting in silence for a moment, taking it all in.

 

“What happened after that?” he finally asked softly,

 

Simon shrugged slightly,

 

“I ended up staying with Kevin and his family for my last year of high school- they knew me and had always known I had problems at home, it wasn’t exactly a secret the Lewis’s were bigots. The Teagan’s were always kind and supportive, even after the trial, after they knew what my parents were they didn’t treat me any different…I always wished I was part of that family…I am now, in all but name…

 

They actually wanted to adopt me, but I told them it wouldn’t be a good idea. I was worried if they did that it would somehow get back to my parents or some other Gwir-dysts…that it would put them at risk and I really couldn’t handle that.

 

I petitioned to become an emancipated minor and won because, well...the only family I had was a couple of murderers who were convinced the world was overrun with monsters. The records of the trial were sealed, and Kevin had heard that they were actually enchanted so there was no way anyone could get into them. Still I was always worried that somehow they’d find me.

 

They never told me about any of it, but I know Officer Caden came by a few times, telling Mr. Teagan about reports of Gwir-dyst’s in the area, or when they got word of someone looking into the case…

 

It happened a few times…probably more times than I knew as I know he’d come by when we were in school so as not to worry me.

 

I spent my entire senior year terrified they’d come after me…come after them.

 

As soon as we graduated me and Kevin moved out of town, I’d told him he didn’t have to come with me- I really just felt like being around me was a danger- that it would put him in danger- but he insisted, said I needed a supernatural in so I could keep in the loop, so I’d actually be able to know if there was a threat or a sighting of a Gwir-dyst.

 

We decided on Brooklyn because there is not a Gwir-dyst brave enough to set foot in the city with one of the largest population of Supernaturals on record, much less the territory of THE Magnus Bane. We both really wanted to help people and decided to go to academy and then a couple years ago I took the detective’s exam…and…well…

 

Here we are.

 

Kevin has just always been the helpful kind and me, well…honestly I just thought maybe I could do some good…help people-all people- protect them…

 

I just want to make a difference…a positive one.

 

The Teagan’s actually ended up moving out of Lawrence about two years after our graduation, moved to Vallejo California, near Kevin’s aunt Lesya and his cousins. They missed the smaller rural town but there’s a much larger supernatural population in Vallejo and it’s far safer, they even have a high warlock- it’s not Magnus but it’s something, and it’s protection. And they have more family there- Auntie Lesya was overjoyed, she’d been trying to get them to move for years- she never thought it was safe living out there like that.

 

They never said anything- not even to Kevin- but I think there had to be something that happened…they’d lived in that town for decades, then they moved almost overnight. I really hate that they had to move but both me and Kevin sleep a lot better knowing they have more security there, and family close by.” He sighed, shaking his head faintly

 

“They’d of been a lot better off not taking me in, I hate that I caused them so many problems, but I really am eternally grateful they did…because I really don’t think I’d of made it these last ten years without them.”

Raphael nodded faintly,

 

“They sound like wonderful people…I am glad you had them.”

 

Simon nodded, glancing over, giving him a soft smile,

 

“And I’m glad you have your clan...that you have people you trust…I t-…oh wow…” he trailed off, looking over towards the window,

Raphael glanced over as well, surprised to see the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon, the sky changing from the deep blue to a rich violet and shimmering pink and orange.

 

He blinked glancing over at the clock on the mantle, shocked to see it was nearly seven…

 

“Oh man, is that clock right?” Simon asked startling faintly, reaching over, checking his phone, giving a faint groan, rubbing at his eyes,

 

“Ah man…I had my phone on silent again…I keep forgetting if I put it down face first it mutes it. Kev tried to call three times…and texted twice. I really should get going…he’d going to be worried.” He said apologetically, shifting, stretching,

 

Raphael nodded, moving as well,

 

“Yeah… and I really should get some sleep. You have today off, don’t you? that’s what  Luke said when you called in and told him about Alec?”

 

Simon tilted his head

 

“How did y…oh right, vampire…”

 

Raphael chuckled, standing up, reaching down, tugging Simon up

 

Simon laughed, blushing faintly,

 

“I could’ve got up myself…besides you’re the one who was attacked by a demon and a pack of devil/lizard/dogs…if anything I should be helping you up.”

 

Raphael shrugged faintly, making his way towards the door, keeping a light hold on his hand,

 

“I’m fine…much better since I ate and I’ll be totally back to normal once I get some sleep. I figured I’d walk you to the door. I am sorry I had to feed with you here, I know it makes most kind of squeamish…but I really could not wait.”

 

Simon rolled his eyes, waving him off,

 

“Dude, why would you think you should apologize for having a meal in your own home?

 

Also you drank what looked like a glass of wine; meanwhile I nearly knocked over an entire container of sweet and sour rice and flung a piece of chicken and broccoli clear across the room in my attempt to use chopsticks, before you took them away and insisted I just use the fork…

 

If anyone should apologize for their eating habits it’s me.”

 

Raphael chuckled, smiling in amusement,

 

“No need to apologize lindo, I actually had a really wonderful night.”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“I did too…I…” he trailed off, leaning against the door, knowing he needed to go but wanting to put it off just a bit longer,

 

“S-so…um…I-thank you for all your help on the case…and for agreeing to keep my secret…you really have no idea how much it means to me.”

 

Raphael shrugged, leaning against the door beside him,

 

“It is okay Simon…I am sorry you have to keep it a secret…hopefully having someone else to talk about it with will help…and if there’s anything else you need-w-umm…you have my number…you are more than welcome to call.”

 

Simon blinked, truly touched,

 

“I-um…I…I’ll definitely take you up on that.” he swallowed, squeezing his hand one more time, before beginning to let go, reaching for the doorknob,

 

Raphael’s hand tightened slightly, tugging him back,

 

“Um…h-hey…Simon?” he started almost sounding nervous,

 

Simon tilted his head,

 

“Yeah?”

 

Raphael shrugged faintly,

 

“Remember how I said I’d been thinking of asking you out?”

 

Simon swallowed nervously, giving a slight nod,

 

“Y-yeah…”

 

Raphael reached up with his free hand, brushing a bit of Simon’s hair back, tucking it behind his ear, hand trailing down, lingering on his cheek,

 

“So, um…how’s Saturday?”

 

#   _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> Oh mi Dios, eres ridícula= Oh my God, you are ridiculous
> 
>  
> 
> Oh mi Dios, eres tan adorable cuando estás nervioso= Oh my god, you are so adorable when you are flustered
> 
>  
> 
> Lindo= cute (I used this for a nickname in my last series I think it’ll fit here too)
> 
>  
> 
> Okay so, I KNOW I said I’d do a flashback of Raphael’s turning but…dude, his first meeting with Magnus and all of that would be a story in and of itself.
> 
>  
> 
> I have it all planned out, but it’s way too much for just half a chapter…rather than cramming it in here and rushing through it we’re gonna go back to it when Magnus finds out about Simon,(I’d say spoiler, but you knew it had to happen sometime) and that Raphael has been lying to him all this time-
> 
>  
> 
> It’ll cover the very first time he met Magnus, all the way up to after the gwir-dyst confrontation…it will be a bit of a wait but I swear it’ll be worth it, Okay?
> 
>  
> 
> Kay…
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Anyways, what did you think of Simon’s revelation?_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _How about them basically cuddling on the couch?_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  I know it’d be a bit soon but at the same time they’ve spent the entire night talking and sharing their deepest, darkest secrets- things that they haven’t really talked about with anyone…
> 
>  
> 
> I think that’s enough for bring them close enough for this.


	4. A Dizzy Dream Or Unreal Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> #  _ 💜💜Chapter Complete!!💜💜 _
> 
> _(Okay, now onto the others)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Notes:_
> 
> Hey, SO sorry for the wait…it’s a bit of a tempo change from the first three stories to the rest of it…also, I kind of keep getting distracted…
> 
> This is kinda random, but I’m thinking of maybe making podcast/audio versions of these stories as well, I might do them of the Psych! It’s Magnus series as well, but with this one I have so many different new names and pronunciations and all that and I think it might be really helpful with them,
> 
> What do you guys think?
> 
>  
> 
> _Kay, so from here on out the timeline may seem a bit wonky and jumbled because we’re seeing different scenes not necessarily in the order in which they happened cause were jumping to different characters…_
> 
> _J-just go with it, kay? It’ll be a lot easier…_
> 
> _We’re picking back up the night before with Magnus and Raj_
> 
> _Also we’re just gonna say the Madfall-Ci – and most other Anifail- disintegrate/combust/evaporate/something that doesn’t leave evidence behind when they die…this way we don’t have to have like a supernatural cleanup crew trying to get rid of the evidence and **I** don’t have to explain how Magnus missed seven dead Devil/croc/dogs/things…_
> 
> _Kay?_
> 
> _Alright…onto the actual chapter_

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#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

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“O-okay…so..umm…w-when you say ‘nearly leveling half a city block,’ exactly what do you mean?” Raj asked nervously as they made their way down the seemingly never ending stairs.

 

Magnus shrugged

 

“There’s not really too many ways to interpret that…The demon refused to go back willingly, without you I couldn’t send it back, and had it gotten out into this world the havoc it would wreak would be immense…

 

Plus it would only be a matter of time until it tried again to open Calon tywyll which would have released things that make one little Hanfod lladrata look like nothing.”

 

Raj gulped, blinking faintly,

 

“L-little…that thing?”

 

Magnus glanced over quirking his eyebrow,

 

“In comparison, yes…part of the reason it was so determined not to go back is because here it would be the very top of the food chain.

 

It’s just a mid-level demon…to many of the creatures inhabiting Calon tywyll that’s but a light snack…

 

And that’s just the beasts, monsters and other non-sentient creatures. That’s not even the real threat.

 

Were a high demon- or worse yet a Greater demon- to come through this world would be done…there really isn’t much of anything in any realm that can handle something like that. There would be nothing they could do against such a being, and no way to hide its presence.

 

The majority of humans cannot process the supernatural, that’s why we keep hidden; it is for our survival, but even more so for the good of humanity. For those who cannot process it the knowledge completely breaks them. They totally lose touch with reality, become shells of themselves, generally end up in mental wards, totally unable to function on their own…it is painfully tragic and only reversible by totally wiping the memories of Magic and the supernatural which can only be done by the most powerful Magic practitioners. There’s but a handful that can manage it without causing even more damage to the human’s psyche.

 

Were the door between Calon Tywyll and the human world opened, I honestly don’t know who would have it worse, them, or the few that could process it and had to actually face the reality of the horrors released.”

 

Raj gulped,

 

“Umm…s-so…yeah…that…um…t-that would be bad…”

 

Magnus gave a slight chuckle

 

“Yes…quite…” he paused, glancing over at the other man

 

“Thank you for coming back…you prevented quite a few more causalities.”

 

Raj scoffed bitterly,

 

“If it wasn’t for me there wouldn’t have been any.”

 

Magnus tilted his head, sighing,

 

“True, but there is no way you could have known that it was a demon you summoned. All you were doing was trying to protect your sister after she was attacked by a type of nightmare creature-something that shouldn’t by any logic exist.

 

You were not being selfish or materialistic; you weren’t even trying to reach out to a demon in desperation…

 

You were trying to contact an angel to help save your sister. When a Hanfod lladrata is summoned they hear the spell, hear what the summonor is asking, feel the emotion behind it.

 

It preyed on your fear and desperation, showed you the Supernaturals, made you believe you were saving humanity from an unseen, terrifying invasion, that you were on a righteous mission led by an angel.”

 

Raj huffed, shaking his head,

 

 “An ‘Angel’ that used hexagrams, human sacrifices, and mind controlling sigils…god…I was so stupid…how did I not see it?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“If you are trying to summon an angel and a shimmering being appears in answer to your call you are going to assume it is an angel.”

 

He shook his head,

 

Yeah, but even so…Alec was right, none of it was angelic…not even the least bit…literally _every_ last part of it should have been a giant red flag…

 

How did I not see it?”

 

“Raj…you were not thinking clearly. As I said the demon was tied to you, it was influencing you, it couldn’t flat out control you, but it had a great deal of sway. And it gave you the ability to see the Supernatural, without warning, without easing into it or a gradual introduction…just all of it, all of us, instantaneously…T-that…” he paused shaking his head, glancing back over at the other man,

 

“Truthfully even with the added protection of Divya’s transformation, the fact that you’re not a blithering basket case curled up in the corner says just how strong of a person you are. Add in the angelic guise and the fact that you were able to resist its pull, keep from actually hurting anyone yourself…it really does say quite a bit about how strong you are…

 

All things considered you really did quite well darling.”

 

Raj shook his head disbelievingly,

 

“Yeah…truthfully I’m not sure that’s the case…for all I know I _did_ actually snap and this is just the delusion playing in my head as I blather in the corner of some padded room somewhe-

 

Hey wait…what protection of Divya?”

 

Magnus shrugged, taking the next turn down the seemingly never ending stairs.

 

“Well, as I said humans cannot generally process the Supernatural, however there is a bit of a safeguard when one becomes a supernatural; like a werewolf, Vampire or what have you…

 

The person’s mind transforms just as much as any physical changes. During the first few weeks they produce a kind of chemical that effects those they’re around the most; it changes their minds as well, making them more capable of handling the supernatural…it’s a kind of biological safeguard, a way to keep them from breaking the minds of those closest to them, those most likely to find out or come into contact to the supernatural.

 

Because of the sting Divya is technically now a supernatural, the same as a werewolf or Vampire. That is why she can now see us… though it’s a much more gradual development than the sudden, jarring, overwhelming introduction that you endured.”

 

Raj stumbled faintly

 

“W-wait…Divya’s a…b…is…w…” he trailed off, shaking his head, Magnus glanced over, quirking his eyebrow

 

“Care to try that again…perhaps one question at a time?”

 

He took a deep breath, shaking his head faintly,

 

“So…Divya’s not human?”

 

Magnus sighed, giving a slight shrug…

 

“Well…not entirely…no. But that does not mean she is a monster…she is the same person she was a month ago, same person she has been all her life, just a bit different. The transformation does not affect what kind of person she is, just what abilities she has.”

 

Raj shook his head faintly

 

“I-I just…this is just a lot to deal with…I really don’t know how to handle all of it. A few weeks ago everything was normal; me and Divya were good, she was doing great in school and I had really found my stride at work…a-and then next thing I know Divya is calling me from the hospital and then I can tell something is wrong and I know she’s worried but she won’t tell me and she usually tells me everything and I know if she’s that worried it has to be really bad but she won’t tell me…

 

And then things are moving and catching on fire a-and…I just don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to help her, and I try something crazy that I didn’t even think would work and i-it did…only it didn’t and I somehow called forth an actual demon…and now I’m talking to a warlock about Vampires and werewolves which actually apparently exist and my sister who is apparently no longer human a…and I…

 

Seriously this is just too insane…

 

I really am wondering if Alec wasn’t right, that I just had some kind of mental break and am imagining all this.” he sighed again, taking the last turn reaching the lobby floor,

 

Magnus chuckled faintly

 

“Well I do so hate to disappoint you dear, but you are not in fact delusional, hallucinating, or experiencing any other symptoms of a severe mental break.”

 

He scoffed

 

“Said the Warlock…” he grumbled

 

“Yes, and this warlock is _always_ right, so I am afraid you will just have to become accustomed to this new reality.”

 

Raj shook his head faintly as they reached the door to the building, pulling it open stepping out into the cool night air, glancing over, slightly disbelievingly,

 

“So in other words; I’m not insane, the entire world is?”

 

Magnus grinned, trailing a bit ahead, turning, walking a few steps backwards, giving a slight shrug,

 

“That is quite true…but don’t worry, you’ll adjust just like that.” he finished with a dramatic snap of his fingers,

 

Raj startled, jumping at a loud, thundering _whoosh_ as the entire top of the building irrupted in brilliant violet blue flames, the color shimmering and flaring before leveling out to the normal reds and oranges,

 

Raj whirled looking from the building back to Magnus, than back a few more times seemingly uncomprehendingly

 

 _“W-w-what the HELL man?!”_ he finally stammered out, erratically waving towards the building,

 

Magnus tilted his head, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“What?”

 

“W-w-wa I I do…w-why…fire-F-why-building, wa-?!” he stammered, flailing more seemingly unable to form words,

 

Magnus finally took pity on him, shrugging, giving a slightly dismissive wave,

 

“Darling, breathe. Alexander remembers being brought here, his partner knew the address…there is a trail here, it is the logical ending point of the murders…now we just need to figure out what it will be.

 

When they get the flames out they will find all the evidence they need to close the case, up to and including the body of the murderer- the accidental victim of a chemical explosion when he mis-measured some of the oh so volatile chemicals used to create the brands…

 

A tragic end for a tragic character. Unfortunately because of the extensive fire damage the only way to identify him will be dental records which will take at least a few days to get back.”

 

Raj blinked a couple times, taking a few hesitant steps back…

 

“Umm…s-so…is this like a fake my own death kinda thing? O-or a real my own death thing… Cause, umm…i-if so I’d kinda rather just plead insanity and take my chances with the court system…

 

I really think I have a hell of a shot at an insanity plea.”

 

Magnus rolled his eyes, waving him off,

 

“Oh now darling, nothing so dramatic. We’ll get it all sorted, keep you out of it, it will all be wrapped up nice and need and clean…no fuss, no muss…

 

Although it is probably not a good idea to just stand out in front of a building engulfed in flames, perhaps we should move around to the side.”

 

Raj blinked a couple times, stumbling along behind him, around the corner of the building, vaguely gesturing back towards the snapping, sparking enferno,

 

“ _That’s_ ‘no fuss’?”

 

Magnus gave a bit of an unconcerned shrug, pulling his phone out, hitting a button lifting it to his ear

 

“Eh, so a bit of fuss,”

 

“Hey Mag’s…” Raphael answered

 

Magnus gave a slight sigh of relief, he hadn’t seen any traces of them on the way out but he wanted to be sure,

 

“Okay we’re good- hell didn’t raise, demons back in Calon tywyll and bonus, the building’s still standing…well the top of it **_is_** kind of on fire, but other than that we’re good. Did you find Simon?”

 

“Yeah I found him…He’d just got to the building when I got to the lobby, we took Alec to the hospital to get checked out, they’re keeping him overnight, but he should be released sometime the next day. I know with your spell it wasn’t really necessary but I couldn’t very well explain that to a human.”

 

Magnus gave a slight chuckle, tilting his head in acknowledgement,

 

That was most definitely the truth…plus he was rather glad…the spell was thorough and he was more than confident in his abilities but still it was a bit of a relief trained medical professionals would be looking over Alexander, just to be on the safe side…

 

Raphael gives a slight chuckle; he can practically hear the eyeroll in his tone,

 

“Why exactly is the building on fire?

 

You just had to make a scene didn’t you?”

 

Magnus laughed,

 

“What can I say? We needed a way to cover it, this’ll buy us time. I’m going to be busy for a while- Raj actually came back and helped. We have a lot to straighten out, I’ll call you when it’s all dealt with but it might not be till sometime tomorrow- it really is quite the mess.” He glanced over at Raj…

 

_Hopefully it’ll only take them one night to get it all straightened out,_

 

_He really did have his work cut out for him on this._

 

“That’s fine Mag’s. Let me know if you need anything else tonight, otherwise I expect the entire story tomorrow.”

 

“Of course darling…thank you for your help tonight, you really should get home and rest, have a bite…it will help you heal.”

 

“I know, I’m planning on it…have a good night, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

Magnus smiled faintly, giving a slight nod, relieved the boy was actually being sensible putting his own health first and giving himself time to heal…

 

_For all his suave, arrogant, tough façade the darling really was one of the most selfless, protective people he had ever met._

“Night Darling…thank you again.”

 

 

“Of course, anything you need Mag’s. That’s what family’s for.”

 

Magnus smiled slightly, slipping the phone back into his pocket, glancing back over at Raj,

 

“So…umm…w-was that the guy with the fangs from earlier?” he asked hesitantly,

 

Magnus gave a quick nod,

 

“Yes, Raphael, he’s a Vampire…actually he’s the head of the Brooklyn Vampire Clan. I am sure you will meet him formally soon enough.”

 

“No rush.” Raj said quickly, shaking his head,

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, smile turning sharp,

 

“Raphael risked his life tonight, going toe to toe, very nearly getting thrown through a six story window, and just barely avoiding giving his life fighting a demon that you summoned into this world…he leaped between me and the demon, saved Alexander’s life, and then carried him down six flights of stairs, likely while poisoned and with his leg ripped clean open…by the demon…that you summoned.

 

I realize that this is all new to you and I get that there is a learning curve, but, dear, I am going to advise you to tread VERY carefully when speaking of my family…

 

Okay?

 

_Sweetie?”_

 

Raj gulped, paling slightly, giving a quick, erratic nod, and a shaky thumbs up,

 

“Got it.” he squeaked

 

Magnus smiled, giving a loud, sharp clap,

 

“Wonderful! Now that we have that out of the way we really must get going; we have family to meet, demon bug-creatures to learn about, evidence to falsify, and the standard, supernatural introduction and orientation to get through.” He paused, clasping the man’s shoulder firmly, giving a bright, reckless, just-this-side-of-crazy smile,

 

“First stop will be your place… Sweet Water Apartment complex over on 40th, apartment 206, yes?” he asked, glancing over at him questioningly,

 

Raj nodded slightly, eyes wide,

 

Magnus smiled, turning from him, raising his hand, making a few elegant, graceful movements, a shimmering sparking, violet portal appearing close to the wall before turning back towards Raj, giving a slightly theatrical gesture towards the shimmering vortex,

 

“W-uh…what’s that?” he stammered eyes wide,

 

Magnus rolled his eyes,

 

“Darling in the last hour I have climbed up and down six flights of stairs, fought a demon and came within a hairsbreadth of leveling half a city block…

 

Ubering or catching a taxi from a towering inferno may be a tad suspicious, I am not walking thirty blocks, and, sweetheart, you do **_not_** want to see the supernatural reaction to running into the High Warlock Of Brooklyn on the subway…

 

Besides, that smell lingers, and these are new boots.

 

This is a shortcut.”

 

Raj nodded quickly, gesturing over his shoulder in the direction of the apartment,

 

“Okay well I-I’ll just see you th-”

 

“Not happening sweetheart, we don’t have the time. Just relax, remember to breathe,  and try to stick the landing,” Magnus winked, reaching forward, catching his hand, giving a reckless, half-crazy laugh, before turning leaping into the shimmering, swirling abyss.

 

_Yeah…Raj decided this had to be real…_

_This was WAY too crazy to just be his mind playing tricks on him…_

_He did NOT have this vivid of an imagination…_

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#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

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**_“Wha-!”_ **

****

Alec startled, shooting up straight in bed, heart racing, adrenaline pumping, feeling confused and slightly disorientated,

 

“Alec! Oh thank god you’re awake!” Izzy gasped, rushing forward, wrapping her arms around him tightly

 

He wrapped his arms around here, hugging tightly back, taking a couple deep breaths, trying to get his heart rate under control. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings; the walls were a pale, off white, there was a low, rhythmic beeping, and a few other medical equipment type sounds, and the entire room smelled vaguely of antiseptic and that odd, indescribable ‘hospital’ smell.

 

_Well…three guesses where he was…_

 

_Okay…good he made it out…_

_H-he’s really not sure HOW he did…but he did._

 

He tries to think back but it’s just an odd, jumbled mess…

 

Alec remembered arriving at the building, talking to someone…R-Raj…that was it…though it was kinda fuzzy and vague, he couldn’t really remember much about the man. He seemed nervous, dark hair and eyes, and a somewhat deep complexion. Remembered him being fidgety and agitated, almost like he was on something…he’d been ranting about monsters, and how they had to be stopped, and he remembered that he tried to get Alec to go in the building.

 

It’d seemed odd…his alarms began to go off.

 

A-after that it seemed to get fuzzy…he remembered noticing something…something telling him this was wrong…a trap…pulling his gun…

 

_B-but…after that?_

After that it was a near blank; just a jumbled, convoluted, mess.

 

The man ranting and raving, Alec trying to distract him, to keep him talking, hoping he could buy himself some time…a flash of a strange, black blade, some weird black and reddish-orange smoke, and a voice…

 

Some crazy…disembodied voice that even just thinking of sent a chill clear down his spine…

 

Something dark and terrifying…

 

_A…and Magnus…_

 

**_Magnus._ **

 

Magnus bursting into the room, all flash and flare…

 

B-but then…then…

 

He didn’t know…

 

None of it made sense…it must be some combination of the concussion and maybe some kind of drug or sedative…

 

There was no way any of it was real…

 

It had to just be his concussion induced dreams.

 

A wild, totally unreal fight, too fast to see…flashes of claws and fangs and an odd, bizarre, **_far_** too wide mouth. Some terrifying unfathomable ‘thing’…but against all that…all the fear and terror and nightmares…bright, brilliant flashes of…something…something he couldn’t really explain but that seemed to fill the entire room, almost overwhelming…

 

**_Magnus…_ **

****

Odd…brilliant…absolutely breathtaking golden eyes…

 

Hauntingly beautiful, deep and warm…

 

They seemed to see clear through to his soul

 

_It had to be a dream…_

He shook his head faintly, coming back to himself, hugging Izzy a bit tighter one more time, breathing a sigh of relief, thankful that, however it happened, he had made it out…

 

She finally pulled back, looking him over giving a relieved smile, before promptly pulling back, sharply smacking him on the shoulder,

 

_“Ow! W-what was that for?!”_

She huffed,

 

“ ** _That_** was for being an idiot, getting angry, and running off to meet some shady, random stranger without so much as giving anyone a heads up!”

 

She paused, shaking her head,

 

“What on earth were you thinking?”

 

He sighed faintly, giving a slight shrug,

 

“I-I…don’t know…I don’t think I really WAS thinking. I was just so angry about Magnus lying and no one telling me anything that when I finally got a chance to find out the truth I-I just jumped at it…”

 

She huffed

 

“Yeah well, angry or not if you’re gonna ‘jump’ at a crazy clue at least have the good sense to take a little back up with you.”

 

He sighed, nodding,

 

“Definitely… I really think coming half a step from being a demon sacrifice is something I don’t want to experience more than once…

 

Or at all…”

 

She tilting her head curiously,

 

“Alec…what happened?”

 

He shrugged,

 

“Honestly…I don’t really know…it’s all kind of a blur, everything seems mixed up and confused.”

 

She sighed, giving a faint nod

 

“They said you had a pretty bad concussion and from the video at Xander’s Annabelle thinks Decker was somehow drugged. He went from cautious to totally complacent in a matter of seconds. I tested him for everything I could but it turned up nothing…however I can only test for things that are known. I don’t know of anything that works that quickly. It’s possible you were drugged as well. How are you feeling?”

 

He shrugged slightly,

 

“Well…alright, all things considered…I mean…I’m alive. My head’s a bit sore, I feel kinda fuzzy, and most of the night is just a bizarre blur…but seeing as I was knocked out and woke up tied to a chair in the center of a hexagram, I’m a hell of a lot better than I _thought_ I’d be.

 

How did I get here anyways?”

 

She settled a bit closer, eyes widening, looking him over in concern,

 

“Geez…” she shook her head, hugging him again,

 

“I’m so glad you’re okay hermano.” She said softly, taking a deep breath,

 

He hugged her back, nodding faintly,

 

“Me too…thank goodness Magnus got there when he did.”

 

She froze, pulling back, looking him over curiously,

 

“Magnus?”

 

He tilted his head, nodding faintly,

 

“Y-yeah...? W-why? Isn’t he who brought me in?”

 

She shook her head

 

“No…Simon was the one who brought you into the hospital, he was with a man named Raphael.

 

Simon didn’t give a whole bunch of details…he just said he and Raphael carried you out and you were unconscious. He saw the bruise on your head and was really worried, he never mentioned Magnus.

 

Luke called, said he’d be down sometime tomorrow, but he won’t be able to make it tonight. Apparently there was a huge explosion at the building…it’s looking like a chemical fire, took them a couple hours to get it out.”

 

Alec startled

 

_“W-what?!”_

She nodded

 

“Yeah…it happened just a bit after you were checked in. Part of the reason they think it was a chemical fire is because there were a few loud explosions leading up to it. Also people nearby said the flames started an odd bluish violet.”

 

Alec swallowed

 

“W-was anybody hurt?”

 

She sighed, giving a slight nod,

 

“Yes, they found remains. It was too decimated to really tell much, we have to wait for the results on the dental records.”

 

He sat up straight,

 

“It’s n-”

 

Izzy shook her head,

 

“It’s not Magnus. I talked to him a little while ago; he’d called, asking how you were doing.”

 

Alec breathed a sigh of relief, slumping back a bit against the pillows,

 

“So…who do they think the remains were?”

 

“Best guess is that it was the person behind the branding murderers. They’re thinking he was mixing some of the chemicals used for the brandings and something went wrong.” She paused, tilting her head curiously,

 

“Do you really remember seeing Magnus? He didn’t mention being there, just said that he’d heard that you were admitted. I’d assumed Raphael had told him, but you don’t think that’s the case?”

 

Alec hesitated a second too long,

 

“I-I don’t know...I _thought_ I saw him, b-but maybe it was a dream. Like I said everything seems really fuzzy and it’s completely jumbled…there’s a lot of things that…that just really doesn’t make any sense…

 

That seem so real but can’t possibly be.

 

Like you said I had a concussion, and it’s highly possible I was drugged with god only knows what. I really don’t know what was and wasn’t real.” He shrugging faintly, trying to sound believable

 

She didn’t seem entirely convinced

 

“Hmm…”

 

He took a deep breath, looking back up at her,

 

“Iz…I really don’t know what happened. Him being there seemed completely real…but like I said, so did a lot of totally impossible things.

 

And honestly, I’d been thinking of him- I mean, the entire reason I was so quick to jump at the meeting was because it meant I was finally gonna get a straight answer about the guy.

 

He was already on my mind…m-maybe I just imagined him there.

 

Logically that makes a lot more sense than a flashy, overly-dramatic club owner/ near-definite criminal I’ve known all of three days leaping into action to theatrically rescue me from a psychopath intending to sacrifice me to a demon.” He trailed off, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Really…when I put it like that it must have just been another dream, or hallucination or whatever. It’s kind of way too out there to be real. I had to have imagined it.” he finished, giving a slight nod, glancing up meeting her eyes.

 

A slight flicker of something flashed over her eyes, before she blinked it away, a faintly mischievous smirk gracing her brilliant red lips,

 

“Well I’ll admit it _does_ seem a bit farfetched that you were dramatically rescued by your gorgeous knight in flawless eyeliner, but if anything it’s a nice thought.”

 

Alec sputtered blushing brilliantly, shaking his head,

 

“Oh my god…it was a concussion induced dream okay? And please NEVER call him that to his face…I will never live it down.”

 

“Your ‘living fantasy?”

 

Alec groaned, rubbing at his eyes

 

“Okay…you’re starting to make me regret regaining consciousness.”   

 

Izzy gave a slight laugh, before sobering faintly,

 

“Hermano, really I don’t know what happened but, honestly? As you are sitting here with me, alive and well- if a bit concussed and confused- and NOT sacrificed to some demon by a madman, I really don’t care,

 

I’m just glad it happened.”

 

He gave a slight laugh, nodding,

 

“I definitely agree with you on that one.” He paused, giving a bit of a yawn, twisting slightly stretching a bit, catching sight of the clock on the wall; he glanced back at Izzy in surprise,

 

“Oh man...it’s almost three am. I’m fine; you really should get out of here and get some sleep.”

 

She scoffed

 

“Yeah, that’s not happening. Like I said they aren’t going to be able to do anything with the body until they get the dental records back and that won’t be for a day or so…also my brother was kidnapped by a crazed murderer and I have plenty of vacation time and sick leave…I already put it in for the next two days.

 

I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna text everyone let them know you’re conscious; I’ve been keeping them updated.

 

Mom and dad will be down tomorrow morning. Jace is still out of town till the end of the week at the mandatory DEA conference. He tried to tell them his brother was in the hospital…but apparently he’d used that excuse three times in the last couple months.

 

Max will be by tomorrow, it’s way too late now, but maybe you could give him a call in the morning so he doesn’t worry and can concentrate at school? He really wanted to come first thing tomorrow morning, but he had a major test in history and there’s some big group project in Science class.

 

The compromise was that I set up camp here and keep everyone updated, so that’s what I’m gonna do.

 

Don’t worry hermano, I have it, just relax and get better, maybe get some rest, you’ll probably need it, concussions really suck.” She finished, settling in on the chair by the bed, pulling out her phone, beginning to type away.

 

Alec sighed, leaning back, rubbing at his eyes,

 

Yeah…he definitely needed rest; everything really did seem to be a jumbled mess…it all felt both totally real and totally surreal at the same time…

 

So much of it felt like a nightmare…

 

Fear, confusion, an odd complete terror the likes of which he’d never felt…

 

So much of it he was perfectly happy with being just a concussion induced dream.

 

But at the same time, there were parts that were amazing…

 

That made him feel dizzy and breathless…filled him with such wonder and amazement.

 

Magnus storming in, feeling strong, confident and totally unstoppable,

 

Flashes of something bright, dazzling and shimmering…

 

Something he could not just see but feel.

 

Something strange and wild that felt warm and protective and almost uncomprehendingly, overwhelmingly strong,

 

Something that left an odd buzzing thrill on his skin and sent his heart hammering, giving him a dizzying, breathless feeling that had nothing to do with the concussion or any possible intoxication…

 

The flash of those brilliant, shimmering, totally bewitching golden eyes…

 

The power, warmth and sheer strength he saw in them had absolutely stunned him,

 

They were like nothing he’d ever seen, ever even imagined…

 

_But…no…_

 

_They had to have been a dream…_

_A fantasy…_

_It wasn’t real…_

_No matter how much he wanted it to be…_

He settled back against his pillows, relaxing, taking a few deep breaths, letting his mind drift away.

 

_His last coherent thought was of those gorgeous, brilliantly warm golden eyes…_

_and a gentle, warm press of soft lips, lightly brushing against his forehead._

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kay, so I’m thinking from here on out the chapters might not be quite as long as the last ones, also they should be a fair bit lighter…
> 
> I kind of like how Magnus switches between being kind to raj to being intimidating…kind of seems his style (And really you DON’T Mess with Magnus’s family)
> 
> And before anyone says anything I know Magnus didn’t mention Raj capturing Alec, but give him time…he will get just as protective and terrifying in his defense of Alec as he is in his defense of Raphael or Clary-
> 
> But as of right now he’s just a really hot detective with a sexy voice that he finds intriguing…he doesn’t KNOW right off the bat it’s the love of his life…it’ll take a bit longer than three days for him to realize that…
> 
> Otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a story
> 
> ***Izzy is SO using ‘Gorgeous knight in flawless eyeliner’ to tease Magnus/Alec***
> 
> (Someone referred to Magnus as that in one of the comments and I really loved it…I can’t seem to find it, when I do I’ll mention them, but until then
> 
> Thanks so much!


	5. And I Thought The Fire Scorpion Thing Was The Craziest Thing I’d Ever See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ##  _ 💜💜Chapter Complete!!💜💜 _
> 
> _Magnus meets Divya…_
> 
> _This may be a dangerous combination._
> 
> _Also Izzy meet a girl that is **truly** bewitching._

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

Magnus exited the shimmering violet portal, landing lightly with a bit of a dramatic flair. Raj tumbled through, rolling a couple times, before coming to a stop and just kind of star fishing on the carpet, trying to catch his breath,

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow in amusement

 

“I told you to try to stick the lan- _whoa!”_ he cut himself off, hand flying up, a shimmering violet wave blocking the blow from the baseball bat.

 

The girl didn’t seem phased in the least, she just pulled back again, readying for another blow.

 

“Wait Div! Stop!” Raj exclaimed, scrambling up, trying to put himself between the warlock and his sister.

 

She startled, seemingly just realizing he was there too, hesitantly lowering the bat, looking from him to the shimmering portal and Magnus before settling back on him in confusion,

 

“Raj? You came through that thing? And who is this?” she asked, gesturing towards the portal, then over at Magnus, eyeing him suspiciously,

 

Magnus gave a smile and a slightly dramatic, fluttering wave,

 

“Hello darling; Magnus Bane, High Warlock Of Brooklyn, Lovely to meet you. Must admit you do make quite a first impression.”

 

Divya blinked a few times, before seemingly shaking it off, giving a slightly careless shrug, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Ditto…” she tilted her head towards the shimmering portal,

 

“So was the whole shimmering, light show, random hole in the fabric of reality opening in the middle of our living room thing **_really_** necessary?”

 

Raj made a shocked squeaking like sound, flailing slightly,

 

Magnus gave a surprised laugh,

 

_Oh…he liked this girl…_

“Eh, not entirely, but I do so love to make an entrance.”

 

She  glanced over him, a twitch of a smile flickering, eyebrow rising slightly,

 

“Really? I’d of never guessed, you seem so grounded and down to earth.”

 

Again Raj stammered

 

And again Magnus gave a surprised bark of a laugh,

 

_He liked her a LOT_

“Div! STOP trying to antagonize the scarily powerful warlock! He’s scary enough when he’s nice and friendly…I do NOT want to see him angry.”

 

Magnus grinned, waving him off,

 

“Not to worry darling, I will take snarky and confrontational over terrified and cowering most anytime...” he turned back to Divya,

 

“I must admit I am rather impressed…most people’s knee jerk reaction to an unmistakably powerful being leaping through a portal into their home isn’t to come at them with a baseball bat. You are taking this remarkably well darling.”

 

She gave a slight laugh and a shrug,

 

“Well thanks, all things considered I think I’m taking that as a compliment, and what can I say? A month or so ago this would have easily been the craziest thing I’d ever seen, but by now it’s kinda a sliding scale and this is barely even in the top ten.

 

I tend to adjust kinda quickly.

 

So…High Warlock Of Brooklyn, huh?”

 

Magnus nodded,

 

Divya glanced from him over to her brother, who was looking kind of green, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Uh, big bro? You maybe want to sit down? You look a bit shaky there…And why exactly are you running around with a Warlock? I didn’t even know that was a thing…

 

At least not outside of, like comic-con or a D&D game.”

 

Raj gave an overly loud, slightly hysterical laugh, pretty much collapsing on the couch, rubbing at his face, shaking his head faintly,

 

“Up till, like two hours ago I didn’t know either...you’re just handling it a heck of a lot better than I did.” 

 

Magnus gave a faint shrug,

 

“Now dear, all things considered you are doing just fine. As I said, after everything the fact that you’re not a jabbering basket case curled up in the corner is nearly a miracle in and of itself.”

 

Divya instantly seemed to sober, all traces of the humor and snark evaporating, quickly taking a seat next to her brother, looking him over in concern, reaching over, resting her hand on his,

 

“Raj…w-what happened? What is he talking about?”

 

He took a deep breath, swallowing a couple times, catching her hand, squeezing tightly.

 

“O-okay…so after you told me about the attack…I-I really wanted to help, and I kind of got the idea that if that crazy impossible thing that attacked you existed then maybe other crazy, impossible things did too…”

 

##  _ 1 Hour Later… _

 

“A…and so then we came here and you attacked what is apparently the ‘High Warlock Of Brooklyn’-which I’m not actually sure what that **_is_** , but it sounds pretty intimidating and powerful and not two hours ago I saw him fight a freaking demon and **_win_** , and apparently come, like half a step away from leveling half a city block so I’m assuming it’s kind of a big deal- a..and…well…now here we are.” He trailed off, swallowing again, gaze focused on his lap.

 

Divya just sat for a moment, trying to process everything. Raj took a slightly shuttering breath, glancing hesitantly over at her, shaking his head faintly,

 

“Div…I…I am so sorry…I sho-”

 

She cut him off, turning, wrapping her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He made a slight, almost whimpering sound, wrapping his arms around her, squeezing just as tightly,

 

“Raj…I am SO sorry this is all my fault i-”

 

Raj shook his head quickly

 

“No it’s not! It’s really not. Please don’t think that…I never want you to think that…it’s mine. There were so many warnings and I j-”

 

“No, but if I’d of just told you the truth from the very beginning than none of t-”

 

“But Div, you were scared and it was unbelievable,

 

It’s my fault,  I should never have fell fo-”

 

“Raj you were just trying t-”

 

“I know b-”

 

“It wa-”

 

They’re both cut off by an odd whistling sound, followed by what looked like a shimmering cluster of fireworks bursting just below the ceiling, releasing a shower of iridescent multi-colored sparkles floating down, before disappearing into nothing.

 

The siblings startle, looking up, before glancing over in shock

 

Magnus sighs, giving a rather careless wave,

 

“Sorry for the interruption darlings, but that was really getting **_far_** too melodramatic for my tastes. It was neither of your fault.

 

Divya? You were attacked by something unimaginable…a nightmare creature…there is no way you could have planned for that, no way you could have expected or prevented it.

 

And Raj? You were trying to protect your baby sister…you weren’t reaching out to a demon, that’s just what heard you and took advantage.

 

It is a shame what happened but there is nothing to be done about it now, and really, given the circumstances no way it could have been prevented…the only way that would happen is if the Rhwystro tân sting caused clairvoyance and you had some clue what craziness was going on.

 

It is terrible and tragic, but it is done. Believe me, this is hardly the first time someone has been duped into doing something horrible by a demon or Djinn or Fae or near anything else…

 

Horrible, manipulative, selfish bastards are unfortunately a universal truth…

 

They exist in every species, race, group, faction and so on…

 

The supernatural ones just tend to make a bit more of a mess.

 

It’s done, the case is solved, building’s still standing- for the most part anyways-demons gone, and hell didn’t rise. All in all this is the best case scenario.

 

 Now we just need to pick up the pieces and move on with our lives.” He paused, looking between the two siblings,

 

They both looked rather startled, eyes widened; distantly he realized his powers were flickering up, dancing about his arms like violet flames…

 

He was sure his eyes were probably glowing,

 

He took a deep breath, pulling back, giving a slight shrug,

 

“I apologize for being so abrupt but take it from someone _far_ older than you…dwelling on the mistakes of the past does nothing.

 

Acknowledge what went wrong, learn whatever you can from it to try to avoid repeating it as best you can, and move on.

 

Anything else is just a waste of time.”

 

Divya took a deep breath, nodding slightly, before tilting her hear, glancing him over curiously,

 

“You’re right…though I think you’re being a bit melodramatic yourself. You can’t be that much older than us. Raj is twenty five; you can’t be a day over thirty.”

 

Magnus chuckled, quirking his eyebrow…

 

“Actually I’m a fair bit more than a few days past thirty…

 

Or years…”

 

Raj blinked, looking him over, raising his eyebrow,

 

“How many years over?”

 

Magnus gave a casual shrug,

 

“Eh, about…eight…hundred…and thirty…five.”

 

Raj blinked...and kept blinking, swallowing faintly,

 

“Umm…t-that…umm…I uh…that is-”

 

 _“SO freaking cool!”_ Divya exclaimed, eyes bright and curious, leaning forward excitedly

 

“S-so…like…I mean…I can’t imagine all the things you’ve seen, or done.”

 

Magnus chuckled faintly,

 

“Darling I can barely imagine them…hell, I doubt I even remember most of it. The first thing you should know about being a supernatural is that appearances can be unbelievably deceiving…

 

That is true of the human world as well, but in the supernatural world it’s far more applicable.

 

Some of the most dangerous beings in existence look totally harmless, inviting … helpless even…

 

Some of the gentlest look absolutely terrifying…

 

There isn’t really a rule of thumb…

 

It’s all just relative.

 

The whole ‘you can’t judge a book by the cover’ adage is quite prevalent in the supernatural community.”

 

“And then you get giant fire scorpion monsters…kinda guessing that doesn’t fall into the ‘just looks scary’ catagory.” Divya added

 

Magnus chuckled…

 

“No, no it does not…that one is more like a magazine; the cover actually tells you everything you need to know…

 

Or far more than you want to know.”

 

Divya laughed, before seemingly startling,

 

“W-wait…what do you mean about ‘being a supernatural?’”

 

Magnus sighed, leaning a bit closer,

 

“Well darling…that is rather why I am here.”

 

She perked up a bit, looking hopeful,

 

“So the sting you…you can fix it?”

 

He hesitated, swallowing slightly,

 

“No darling…not as of yet…I am afraid there isn’t a cure for a Rhwystro tân sting… I will help in any way I can, but unfortunately you are rather stuck with it, at least for the foreseeable future. Given time I could possibly come up with a spell, but it’s rather a long shot, it could take years.”

 

She deflated, giving a slight nod,

 

“And I probably don’t have that long…” she sighed,

 

Magnus tilted his head,

 

“Whatever do you mean darling?”

 

She shrugged

 

“W-well…I mean…I…everything I could find on the welt that I had…t-they were all on bodies. I couldn’t find anything on someone alive with one a-”

 

Magnus gasped, shaking his head quickly,

 

“ _Oh_! No sweetheart, no. I didn’t mean anything like that…Darling you are totally fine, I mean, your life will probably change a great deal, but you will still have it.”

 

She startled, setting forward,

 

“N-no, but…all the marks-”

 

“Were on bodies and the sting IS most often fatal, but my dear you are LONG past that…that is in the first thirty minutes.

 

When a Rhwystro tân stings, the stinger detaches. It continues to inject the venom until either the prey or the creature die…generally it’s fatal within half an hour. The creature that attacked you died…

 

Which I am quite curious how you managed that, but in any case you are far past the danger point. You are fine darling…”

 

She shook her head faintly, seemingly uncomprehendingly,

 

“I…b-but then…what are you going to help me with?”

Magnus shrugged,

 

“Well…the thing about a Rhwystro tân sting is that it’s rather similar to a werewolf or Vampire bite-”

 

 _“I’m gonna turn into one of those creepy ass scorpion things!?”_ she asked, eyes wide,

 

He shook his head quickly, holding his hands up,

 

“No! nothing like that…damnit, this is really not going very well…”

 

 _“You think!?”_ she snarked, sarcastically,

 

He had to smile a bit at that, holding his hands up yet again,

 

“Okay…let’s try this again shall we?

 

The sting changed you…much like when a human is bitten by a Vampire or werewolf you are now a supernatural.

 

That is why you can see us. Nothing else is going to change, all the changes are done. You are fine, you are in the clear, you are still a normal teenager…

 

You will **_not_** turn into a giant scorpion.

 

 Just now you are a supernatural with pyrokenisis and telekinesis. Which I can- and am more than happy to-help you learn to control and wield however you so choose.

 

That’s it…

 

Okay?”

 

She blinked again uncomprehendingly, head shaking faintly,

 

“I…but…t-that’s so…w…” she trailed off, still shaking her head somewhat,

 

Magnus sighed,

 

_Oh this was far harder than he thought,_

“Dear…I know it sounds rather overwhelming, but I assure you I can help, you will get a handle on it…it will be alright sweetheart.”

 

She looked back up, giving a somewhat amazed laugh,

  
“Are you kidding? it’s more than ‘alright’; you just told me I’m basically a freaking superhero! Like I have a crazy origin story and everything! And that you’re gonna teach me how to use my superpowers!

 

That’s a hell of a lot more than just ‘alright’.”

 

She bounded up darting over, hugging him excitedly,

 

Raj once again squeaks,

 

Magnus laughs,

 

“Well you seem to be taking this quite well.”

 

She pulled back, nodding faintly, practically bouncing with excitement,

 

“Umm _yeah_. I went from thinking I was gonna die, to thinking I was gonna turn into a freaky scorpion thing, to finding out I’m a real, live superhero…I’m good with this…trust me…

 

I am SO good with this!

 

Thank you Magnus! Thank you! Thank you SO much…you’re amazing!”

 

He gave a slight, dismissive wave, shaking his head,

 

“No need for thanks darling, I’m happy to help.”

 

She shook her head,

 

“But I really can’t thank you enough for this. For everything. You saved my brother, and stopped all of that and now you’re going to help me learn how to use my powers…I really don’t know what to say.” She trailed off absolutely beaming,

 

He begin to shake his head before pausing, a thought occurring to him.

 

“Well, as I said there really is no thanks necessary, but if you would be interested I am actually going to be starting a private detective agency…specifically focusing on paranormal/supernatural type cases.

 

This case has showed me how very easily something can spiral out of control. I think this will be a good way to keep an eye out for Supernatural’s causing issues in my territory and put a stop to it before it get out of hand.

 

I could use some help, perhaps after school or what have you?

 

But only if you want to of course.”

 

Her eyes widened nodding quickly,

 

“Oh my god, are you kidding? Yes of course! That would be amazing…

 

Would it just be me and you, or do you have other help?”

 

He shook his head faintly,

 

“No, actually in all likelihood my best friend will also be helping us. His name is Raphael Santiago…he seems to be under the impression I am in constant need of some type of ‘supervision’. He’s the head of the Brooklyn Vampire Clan.”

 

She blinked, giving a slightly disbelieving laugh, quirking her eyebrow,

 

 “So…A warlock, a vampire and a pyrokinetic/telekinetic teenager investigating crimes and cases with a paranormal twist?

 

That is completely insane…

 

 _I am SO in!”_ she exclaims, bouncing

 

Magnus gives a delighted laugh, slipping his arm around her shoulder,

 

“Wonderful darling! Okay, well before we get to that we really need to get this whole mess sorted out. We need to call Luke-he’s the chief of the BPD, well need his help with the background.”

 

She glanced over,

 

“And he’ll help? Wait, _is he a supernatural too!?”_

 

Magnus nods,

 

“Yes, he’s a werewolf- well technically an Alpha werewolf, but he doesn’t usually let that go to his head.”

 

Her eyes sparkle brightly,

 

“I get to meet a _werewolf!?_ And I’ll be working with a Vampire and a Warlock…this is SO cool!”

 

Magnus laughs, giving an eager nod,

 

“Yes my dear, it really is and t…” Magnus continued right along, the two chattering on excitedly like they’d known each other for years,

 

Raj just leaned back against the couch, rubbing faintly at his eyes, trying to process all of this…for the fourth time tonight wondering, almost hopefully, if this was just a nice, normal, mental break.

 

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**_  (Izzy) _ **

_This was just insane…_

Yesterday they’d started the day trying to track down some maniac branding and killing people, apparently in some bizarre attempt at a summoning ritual to call forth a demon.

 

_How the hell does it actually get crazier from there?_

 

Alec introduces her to Magnus- which was totally insane in and of itself- they examine the body, apparently Alec called Magnus out for lying about recognizing the symbols (She’d seen it too but was wise enough to hold her tongue…if an almost certainly dangerous criminal was willing to help them track down a murderer she could bide her time for a bit, and if he didn’t know she was watching for it he was more likely to slip up again.). They’d had a huge blowout, Alec storming off, Simon in tow to work the case on their own.

 

She had to admit Magnus had rather impressed her, figuring out her ruse so quickly, coming back to ask her about Alec’s behavior. At least the man began being more honest…which basically just consisted of admitting he _was_ lying about recognizing the symbols because how he did was far too complicated and tangled to explain and it would just lead to even more questions he could not answer-

 

Which…yeah that was kinda suspicious as hell and somewhat disconcerting, but everything she knew about _The_ Magnus Bane pretty much screamed secrets, drama, danger, and more secrets, so she kind of got it.

 

The man was totally immersed in something dangerous as hell; there was no way around it. she had no clue what it was exactly but as she’d seen hardened criminals, violent, drunken idiots, and an actual biker gang turn tail and run as if the hounds of hell were on their heels after a few quiet words with the man, it probably wasn’t something they should poke at too much.

 

Normally she’d be all for going after someone like that, but there was something about the guy that made her hesitant.

 

Yes…it was true people were afraid of him- scary, violent, terrifying people were afraid of him…but the thing of it was, those were the ONLY ones she’d ever seen truly terrified of him.

Most everyone else she saw with him seemed to like him… anytime he was at the club he was always surrounded by giddy, fawning, sometimes almost starstruck people. His employees at the club absolutely adored him.

 

She may have downplayed quite how often she’d been to the club; it was actually one of her favorite places. A big part of that was because it felt so safe, almost protected…which sounds really odd, but that was the only way she could think to describe it.

 

She was always vigilant when she went to clubs; partly from her job in law enforcement and partly simply from being a single woman out clubbing. In most every club she’d caught more than a few patrons trying to slip something into a drink, getting too pushy with clearly uninterested people, or trying to get black out drunk people to leave with them.

 

Anytime she’d see something like that she’d have to intervene, it was just the kind of person she was, and she tended to catch most everything.

 

Yet she’d never seen anything like that at Pandemonium…not even once. She’d even commented about it to one of her favorite bartenders, Maia. She’d kinda chuckled, tucking a few dark brown curls behind her ear, giving a slight shrug, deep brown eyes sparking bright, almost predatory, saying they didn’t tolerate that crap here and anyone stupid enough to try it learns that pretty quick.

 

_She’s not gonna lie, it was pretty hot._

Izzy didn’t know why but she had a feeling a lot of it came back to Magnus. She had no clue how a ridiculously pretty, over the top club owner pulled off the intimidation thing so very well, but she couldn’t deny the dude had it **_down_**.

 

Just like Alec had said, there was just something about the man that set off every alarm she had. He _felt_ dangerous, that was the only way to describe it.

 

Alec saying that Luke tried to get him to let the guy go, vouched for him, even while he seems almost afraid…it brought her up short, kind of confused her. Luke Garroway was an excellent chief, she’d never for a second questioned his character or loyalty. He seemed like the most ‘detective’ like chief she’d ever met. He never hesitated to back up his people, even when that could really come back to bite him. He played the politics game, and he was actually pretty good at it, but she knew it annoyed the hell out of him and he only did it to protect his people and get it so they could do their jobs.

 

He worked the system so they didn’t have to.

 

She’d always liked that about him, respected him for it. There was never any question in her mind that he would go to the mat for every one of the people in his precinct. There were very few chiefs she’d met that were more dedicated to their people.

 

The way Alec described his interaction with Magnus it had almost seemed like he was siding with him over Alec, she knows that’s what Alec was thinking…but the more she thought about it, that just didn’t line up with Luke.

 

_So why would he?_

 

Why would Luke seemingly side with a dangerous criminal over his best detective?

 

She kept coming back to Alec saying Luke seemed almost afraid of Magnus…and he said they’d known each other for years...

 

Did Luke know what Magnus was into? Was he covering for the man…maybe even colluding with him in some way? Or was he just trying to protect Alec from ending up on the wrong side of a dangerous criminal?

 

She didn’t know, but she’d never saw anything other than loyalty and protection in the chief…she couldn’t imagine him actively protecting a dangerous criminal…

 

_Unless there was more to it than that…_

_Maybe h…_

 

Okay, you know what? Maybe she’d just watched one too many movies with conspiracy theories and vigilantes and her imagination was running wild…Luke wasn’t helping a criminal; a guy like Magnus probably has a whole team of lawyers. Pissing him off would’ve probably caused a whole legal mess and tied them up with all of that drama wasting time they could have used on the actual case.

 

_That had to be it…_

 

It was the most logical answer.

 

And with this case she will take all the ‘logical answers’ she can get, because there sure as hell aren’t a lot of them on this one.

 

Apparently after the Magnus confrontation drama Alec had went and snapped at Simon too, telling him he hadn’t been siding with him at all, that he couldn’t trust him,

 

And after Alec was better she was SO having words with him on that…

_You do NOT yell at Simon!_

_That’s like yelling at a puppy!_

 

So Alec had snapped at his partner and stormed off by himself, ending up getting a call from some shady creep saying he had info on Magnus…

 

That right there set off more alarms for her than Magnus himself.

 

He blows up at the guy, blows up at his partner, storms out of the station and not twenty minutes later gets a call from someone who just happens to have info on the very person he was having issues with…

 

_Like really?_

_Pissed off or not HOW did that not jump out at Alec?_

 

So he goes to meet the dude and realizes pretty quickly it’s a trap... the dude didn’t even know Magnus’s name.

 

Alec said it was pretty fuzzy after that…

 

He remembers the guy tried a couple times to grab his hand or arm, which going by what their tech said seemed to be how whatever drug the murderer was using was administered, and judging by the knot on his head he must have been hit with something…

 

After that Alec says it’s all just a jumbled mess, he really can’t tell what was a dream and what was real.

 

He remembers waking up at one point, tied to a chair in the center of a hexagram, the floor littered with hundreds of those crazy symbols like on the bodies. Someone talking, ranting, seemingly totally deranged, blathering on about monsters and angels and a whole list of crazy things…someone with a knife…

 

He thinks he must have passed out again, either from the concussion or maybe he was drugged, because he insists none of the rest of it could be real.

 

Magnus bursting in,

 

Some kind of crazy, far too quick to follow fight.

 

Magnus being thrown into a wall, hard…pulling himself up, looking Alec over in concern…

 

And then nothing…

 

Next thing he knows he’s waking up in the hospital room with her next to him.

 

_God…_

That was one of the scariest calls of her life.

 

She was usually cool under pressure but when she’d got the call from the hospital it’d shook her to her core…she held it together pretty well…

 

_Okay, she kind of did…_

Alright, so she may have made the poor nurse who’d called her cry when he’d tried to do the whole ‘I can’t tell you, the doctor will have to…’ thing, dressing the dude down, going right into her ‘scare the politicians’ shtick.

 

It was fine, after the fact she’d apologized and even brought him a coffee from the cute little café across the street.

 

He was good…well…alright, so, he may have hidden a few times when she’d came in and he might have had one of the other nurses come in anytime he had to talk to her with anything other than positive updates.

 

Still, it was fine.

 

Alec was okay, he was going to be fine, and that was all that mattered. They were keeping him today and overnight just to be safe, but that was just a precaution, as they didn’t know if he was slipped anything and if it may have any delayed effects.

 

It was okay…

 

She’d been on the phone all morning trying to keep the family informed. Their parents had been there right at eight, when visiting hours began. She didn’t really know how helpful that was for Alec as they didn’t have the most calming presence, but it was the thought that counts. They left about nine thirty when Alec fell back asleep (Though she thinks he may have been faking it, but she can’t say she wouldn’t have done the same thing…hell, she’d of done it an hour earlier).

 

She’s stepped out for a bit to call into the station and see if there was any updates with the case, as well as just to give Alec a bit of a breather. He appreciated her being there but she could tell he was starting to feel kinda like she was babysitting him.

 

She’d went over all his read outs, triple checked the doctors work and cross examined the nurse (the second one…the other was back to hiding for the time being). She was confident he was out of the woods and she knew he felt bad falling asleep with her there.

 

She figured she’d go back for another hour or two, bring Alec some lunch that wasn’t gross hospital food and then take off, give him a bit of time to relax.

 

Balancing the take out bag on one arm she hit the button for the elevator, absently typing out a message to Jace letting him know how it was going. The doors dinged opening, she slipped in quickly finishing up her text and sending it.

 

 _“Hey! Wait!_ Hold the elevator!” a slightly breathless voice called,

 

She reached forward, quickly catching the door, it opening back the rest of the way, she dodged to the side as a whirlwind with bright red hair practically tumbled though the door, stumbling slightly, catching herself on the rail along the wall, trying to catch her breath,

 

The girl, turned around, gaving a slight breathless laugh, looking up, bright sparkling green eyes meeting Izzy’s,

_Oh…wow…_

 

Izzy gulped slightly,

 

The girl was absolutely out of this world.

 

She was a little on the short side, brilliant fire red soft curls falling down past her shoulders. The girl had a beautiful smile, cheeks flushed bright pink. Her pretty green eyes flickered over Izzy, widening faintly, cheeks brightening all the more.

 

She gave another slightly nervous, breathless laugh, pushing her hair back,

 

“U-umm…thanks…sorry for making you wait, I just saw the elevator closing from _way_ over at the beginning of the hallway and it’s the only one and I really didn’t want to have to wait for it to come back.”

 

Izzy blinked once more before getting a hold of herself; giving an overly confident shrug, and a slightly unconcerned wave, leaning casually against the wall,

 

“Oh, it’s no problem, glad I could help. Where are you heading?”

 

The girl blinked, seemingly a bit thrown, still blushing faintly, fidgeting a bit,

 

 “Uh…oh um…w-well, a friend of mine was admitted and I wanted to check on him…well not a friend…not yet anyways…Oh! Um but definitely not _more_ than a friend…I wouldn’t have a more than friend that’s a guy as I’m gay so that totally wouldn’t happen and…y-you meant what floor, didn’t you?” she trailed off blush kicking up even brighter than before,

 

Izzy gave a surprised laugh, immediately charmed, nodding slightly, biting her lip trying to keep the smile in check, not wanting to seem like she was laughing at the girl,

 

“Yes…that’s what I meant…” she paused looking her over, before meeting the girls eyes again, giving an interested smirk, quirking her eyebrow, shifting a bit closer,

 

“Though that is _very_ good to know…I am too by the way.

 

So, what floor?”

 

She blushed again, eyes widening slightly, giving a slight nod, brushing her hair back, abcently twisting a fiery red lock around her finger,

 

“Yeah? Wow…t-that’s wonderful… _oh_ , um…sixth floor.”

 

Izzy chuckled lightly, reaching over, hitting the button before turning back to the pretty girl, settling even closer, tilting her head,

 

“Well, that works out pretty well, that’s my floor too. I’ve been on this elevator easily half a dozen times in the last day, it’s pretty slow…hope you don’t mind, we may be stuck together for a while.”

 

The girl giggled, shaking her head quickly, pretty green eyes shimmering, settling a bit closer, glancing over at her,

 

“I definitely don’t mind…like at all. I’m Clary, Clary Fray.”

 

Izzy smiled, leaning a bit closer,

 

“Nice to meet you Clary; Isabelle Lightwood.” she paused, reaching over taking her hand to shake, breath catching slightly at the contact, she swears there were almost literal sparks, feeling electrified and slightly lightheaded,

 

She swallows, squeezing Clary’s hand, grip lingering much longer than necessary,

 

 “P-please call me Izzy.”

 

Clary blushed again, nodding faintly, leaning in, glancing up at her,

 

“Okay…Izzy.”

 

Izzy gave a slight laugh that was far closer to a giggle than she was comfortable with, glancing away from the bewitching green eyes,

 

_What in the hell?_

_She feels like a teenager with their first crush…that hasn’t happened in…in…well hell she doesn’t think that’s ever happened._

_Even when she WAS a teenager with a crush she had more self control than this._

_What co-_

 

“Wait…Lightwood? Are you related to Alec?”

 

Izzy’s head pops back up, looking at Clary in surprise,

 

“Yeah…he’s my brother, that’s who I’m here to see…”

 

Clary’s eyes widened, she gave a bright, musical laugh that reminded Izzy of windchimes and summer.

 

Izzy leaned a bit heavier against the wall, knees suddenly feeling just a little bit wobbly,

 

“That’s who I’m here to see!” Clary exclaimed happily,

 

“R-really?”

 

She nodded, moving a bit closer once more, settling against the wall next to Izzy,

 

“Yeah; your brother was really sweet, he was helping my friend Magnus with a case, and I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I feel just awful he got hurt.”

 

Izzy tilted her head, something clicking,

 

“Wait…Magnus’s friend? Are you the one with the occult shop? Alec had mentioned that was what got Magnus involved in the first place, that a friend of his shop was vandalized…”

 

She gave a slight nod,

 

“Yeah…that’s me. Alec was very sweet about it. I was really worried for him during the whole case. I told him yesterday to be careful; the kind of things involved with this really shouldn’t be messed with.”

 

Izzy nodded faintly,

 

“Umm…yeah, generally anything involving branding and human sacrifice is probably a really bad thing.”

 

Clary shook her head slightly,

 

“That’s true, but there was so much more involved in this…there was a lot of darkness, a lot of really bad energy.

 

I am just glad he made it out safe.” She trailed off, giving a slight sigh,

 

Izzy held her tongue. She didn’t really believe any of this Supernatural, ‘dark energy’ kinda stuff, but she wasn’t about to say that to an owner of an occult shop…

 

Especially one so cute.

 

Clary tilted her head, glancing up at her,

 

“Sorry, I know that sounds kinda out there. Not really something a fancy, scientific minded Medical Examiner would put much stock in…I know you don’t believe in all this, but I’ll try not to hold it against you.”

 

Izzy startled faintly, blinking

 

“Umm…t-thanks…so, how did you know I was a Medical Examiner?”

 

Clary gave a mischievous smirk,

 

“Oh…I’m a bit psychic…” she paused a second before giving a slight shrug,

 

“Well…either that, _Or_ your brother may have mentioned it.”

 

Izzy laughed, shaking her head as the door dinged opening on their floor. She reached over, holding it for Clary before slipping out herself, falling into step beside the pretty redhead,

 

_Huh…_

_Okay she really didn’t believe in the whole ‘mystical, holistic, magic’ kinda thing but she had to admit this girl definitely **seemed** pretty damn magical…_

_After all, Izzy had known her all of five minutes and she was already totally enchanted._

 

She glanced over, giving a bit of a shrug,

 

“Hey, just because I’m scientific minded doesn’t mean I’m totally closed off to new ideas. I love learning new things…

 

So, tell me about your shop…”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> Alright so what do you guys think of Divya so far?
> 
> How about Magnus actually starting the P.I. agency?
> 
> Also, I know Magnus’s age is a bit (a lot) higher than in canon but I’d said in the last story Asmodeus had been dead for nearly 900 years, so it stood to reason Magnus had to be somewhat close to that…
> 
> Figured we could use a bit of a recap of the case, seeing as that was in the last story, thought this was a good way to brush up on it a tiny bit.
> 
> I kinda love Izzy and Clary already, they’re gonna be really fun together…
> 
> Come one it’s a faintly clairvoyant warlock who runs an occult shop and a kick ass medical examiner…
> 
> How can that not be fun?
> 
> _Anyways, what do you guys think so far?_


	6. Sparks & Flimflam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ## 💕💕Chapter Complete!!!💕💕
> 
> _**Happy Valentines Day!!** _
> 
>  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(I kinda have a thing for odd, phrasing that’s went out of fashion…I really liked how the title sounded)_

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**_  (Raj) _ **

Raj sighed, settling back further into the couch, Divya and Magnus’s excited, almost annoyingly chipper prattling settling into random background noise, once again hoping that it was actually just him that had went insane, not the entire world…

 

But he was starting to think that was kinda a long shot…

 

He really didn’t think he was imaginative enough to come up with half of this craziness.

 

After the whole ‘Supernatural reveal’ shtick, and Divya’s initial fear the sting was fatal (Which was news to HIM by the way) and her subsequent fear of transforming into a terrifying were-scorpion she was actually pretty good with the whole suddenly pyrokinetic/telekinetic thing which…

 

Okay yeah, considering the other two options that sounded pretty good to him too, but still…

_What the hell, man?_

Seriously, not a month ago he was just a totally normal dude working at a tech firm raising his way too brave, smart, fearless teenage sister.

 

_Everything was good…_

_Everything was normal…_

_Everything was SANE…_

And now he is sitting on their couch trying to process the reality that a freaking Demon masqueraded as an angel and came half a step away from tricking him into murdering a detective thereby dooming humanity by raising hell on earth! All of this while waiting around for the Alpha Werewolf chief of the BPD to show up to help him, his newly supernatural teenage sister and what is apparently ‘THE High Warlock Of Brooklyn’ construct a believable cover story and falsify evidence in what was quickly becoming the serial killer case of the decade!

 

He sighed, casting a glance over towards where Divya and Magnus were standing around the kitchen table eagerly pouring over a whole stack of books and folios, and what look a hell of a lot like scrolls he’d seen once at the Museum of ancient history when he and their parents took a trip to Greece one summer.

 

Magnus had ‘magicked’ them up when he was explaining about the Rawyea- that creepy-ass scorpion thing that attacked her (He said it was necessary but Raj had the feeling the guy was just showing off now).

 

It sounded like they had branched out a bit, now talking about other types of Supernaturals, some kind of classifications or distinctions-

 

Factions?

 

Whatever that is…

 

He sighed, rubbing his temples,

 

God…this was just too insane for words…seems that same as  with everything else Div was just diving right in, fearless and eager as ever. She was chattering right on along with the terrifying warlock, laughing, smiling…JOKING, acting as if she’d known him for years, as if a man with glowing cat eyes, and a totally unnerving amount of flickering, flashing power was just a normal part of the day to day.

 

She always seemed to adjust faster to changes, adapt, roll with it and just move right on along without missing a step…

 

He had to admit, he envied it a bit. He was never like that; he always analyzed, calculated, planned, tried to work out everything in advance so he’d be prepared… he never took risks, never tired or did anything crazy,

 

Which apparently was a good thing as the one time he DID try something kinda out there he ended up summoning a freaking demon and nearly raising hell on earth…

 

_He swears that is the LAST time he tries to go off script…_

But with Div going ‘off script was pretty much…well…script....

_And yes he knew how convoluted that sounded but give him a break; it’s been a VERY long day and it’s an even longer way from done_

 

Divya was the polar opposite,

 

She jumped in with both feet and went at whatever came head on (Case in point, going after an unnervingly powerful being leaping through a shimmering portal into their home with a baseball bat!) Shoe on the other foot? He’d of probably screamed like a little (Non Divya) girl, turned and ran the hell out of there.

 

A little niggling part of him was somewhat relieved she was the one actually facing the whole ‘So you are now a Supernatural’ thing…I mean, don’t get him wrong, he’d never wish any ill will on her- or really most anyone else- but he had NO illusions what kind of person he was.

 

‘Supernatural transformation protection’ or not he knows damn good and well he’d be a gibbering mess totally unable to function.

 

Hell, he wouldn’t have ever made it that far…he’d of been creepy-ass demon scorpion chow.

 

It terrified him just how close he’d came to losing her…he saw the pictures she’d drew and her descriptions and all of that…

 

Saw the welt and even the powers and all the rest but still…

 

_Damn…_

 

Magnus had said the stings were almost always fatal…that had the thing not died Divya would have…

 

She had come less than half an hour away from death…

 

_God…_

He took a few deep breaths trying to get himself under control, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

 

_It was okay…it was alright…_

_Divya was okay…_

_She was alive and she was safe…_

_She was okay…_

_That’s all that mattered._

 And his crazy Angel plan may not have worked how he’d hoped- biggest understatement of the century- but he DID find someone who knew what was going on…

 

Someone who could help her.

 

That was what he wanted…maybe not exactly like this…

 

But it was something…

 

_At least now they had some idea what the hell was going on._

_He sup-_

His thoughts are cut off but a firm wrapping at the door,

 

He startles from his thoughts, jumping faintly,

 

Oh, yeah…that was the werewolf…

 

Alpha Werewolf.

 

Otherwise known as the chief of the BPD.

 

_Awesome…_

He sighed, standing up, making his way to the door, figuring he can go back to wallowing in the insanity after the whole conspiring with a werewolf, warlock and a teenager to cover up a string of bizarre murders thing was done…

_Seriously, how is this his life?_

He took one more deep breath, grabbing the doorknob, pulling it open, swallowing nervously.

 

The door opened revealing a tall, attractive man, maybe in his early forties, in a dark grey suit with a forest green shirt. He had a deep complexion, a short buzz cut and immaculate facial hair. 

 

_Oh…o-okay…he’s not too scary looking…he almost lo-_

“Raj?” he asked, voice deep and bordering on threatening,

 

He tilted his head slightly, the light catching his eyes them reflecting a bright, eerie green

 

_Ah…there it was…_

Raj gulped faintly, before taking another deep, steadying breath, gripping the door a bit tighter, he nodded faintly,

 

He shifted his gaze from Raj to Divya and then Magnus who’d by this point joined him by the door; he raised his eyebrow, leveling Magnus with an almost glare,

 

“So, this is how you ‘help’ the investigation? Promising to cover for the culprit?” he paused shaking his head faintly,

 

“I can’t believe this Magnus. Because of him my best detective is in the hospital with a concussion and god only knows what else! What if Alec would hav-”

 

Magnus sighed, shrugging faintly,

 

“Lucian, it is not as simple as that. I am sorry about Alexander…I truly wish he could have stayed safe but there was no way we could have known he was being targeted until after the fact. I checked him out, wiped the Supernatural events from his memory. He is fine, I assure you, I am quite fond of the detective, I would not risk his health. The spell will leave him a bit groggy and confused as to the actual events but he will be good as new after a day or two of rest, you have my word.

 

I…honestly I wanted to treat the concussion as well but I simply did not have time in the moment…the demon very nearly killed Raph…it nearly threw him through the window on the top floor, he would not have survived that…

 

Not even a vampire could survive such a drop.

 

Raph was poisoned, his leg ripped open and I could not hold the demon for much longer while still having to worry about Alec and him.

 

They needed to get out, and they needed to as quickly as possible.

 

I would have went back to treat it afterwards but Simon showed up and I couldn’t very well tell him that he shouldn’t take his kidnapped, concussed partner to the hospital…

 

And all things considered it really was the best case scenario.

 

The introduction to the supernatural is dangerous and tricky even under the absolute best of circumstances- and as this involved a demon masquerading as an angel attempting to open a door to Calon Tywyll, mind controlling sigils, witnessing a fight between said demon, a vampire, and a warlock and likely coming within a few moments of his own untimely gruesome death- this was about as far from the ‘best of circumstances’ there was.” Magnus trailed off giving a slight shrug,

 

Raj cleared his throat, hesitantly holding a finger up,

 

“U-um…A-as someone who went through the entire thing and remembers every terrifyingly crazy second of it, I can say pretty certainly that not remembering would be WAY better…”

 

Luke blinked a couple times, gaze softening faintly, looking him over in confusion, before shifting over to Divya and back, exhaling sharply,

 

 He gave a slight shake of his head,

 

“Okay, so I think I’m a bit confused here. I can see the traces of a spell with you, and she’s a supernatural… I’m not sure exactly what type, though by the faintly smoky smell, the slightly singed curtains and the three pitchers of water I can see from here I would guess fairly newly turned and something involving fire.”

 

The sibling blinked, nodding faintly,

 

Luke took a deep breath, deflating a bit, seeming far less confrontational than he had at first.

 

“Alright, how about we just start at the beginning…what would that be?”

 

Magnus, Divya and Raj glanced between each other, trying to decide who would begin,

 

Divya shrugged, glancing at the two guy before taking a deep breath,

 

“I-I guess that would be when I was out for a walk and got attacked by the Rhwystro tân…”

 

##  _ Two Hours Later… _

 

“…And then Magnus dragged me through a swirling portal and we landed in the middle of our living room and Div went after Magnus with a baseball bat…” Raj finished, giving a slight almost disbelieving not quite laugh at the sheer insanity of it all, glancing over at Luke nervously.

 

He shook his head faintly, setting forward a bit more in the armchair, glancing from Raj back to Divya and then back again,

 

“Damn…”

 

Raj gave a sharp laugh, nodding quickly,

 

“Umm, yeah…pretty much…” he sighed shaking his head again, meeting Luke’s eyes apologetically,

 

“I…god, I really am sorry about all of this, I know that doesn’t make it okay and I told Magnus that I would just plead insanity and take whatever I had coming bu-”

 

Luke shook his head

 

“No, he’s right…you had no way of knowing it was a demon, all you were doing was trying to help protect your sister. Hell, trying to protect all of humanity. The demon showed you the supernatural all in one go…t-that…

 

I really don’t even know what to say to that...

 

I’m not even sure how you’re coping with this, how you haven’t just totally lost it. I have no idea how you are holding it together.

 

Given all the circumstances involved I can’t in good conscience hold you responsible for everything. You were manipulated, heavily under the influence of very strong demonic magic, by a demon that was purposefully trying to break you…to fracture your mind.

 

Raj you were not at fault in this” he paused glancing over at Divya as well,

 

“Neither were you Divya. I am so sorry you both had to go through all of this I know it will be a huge adjustment and if there’s anything I can do to help please don’t hesitate to ask.”

 

Raj blinked a few times, completely at a loss as to how to respond to that.

 

“U…umm…thank you sir…that really means a lot.” He stammered out,

 

Divya nodded, leaning forward, glancing from him over to Magnus and back,

 

“Yeah…we really can’t thank you guys enough for this…both of you.” she paused looking over at Raj meeting his eyes, giving a slight, warm smile,

 

“Raj is everything I have; I may talk a good game and most of the time I’m usually pretty tough but…I…if I had lost him I really don’t know what I’d do…I r-really don’t think I could handle that.” she trailed off softly, eyes misting faintly,

 

He nodded, leaning over, slipping his arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly,

 

“I really don’t either…” he paused shaking his head,

 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that you thought the sting was fatal! What-“

 

She sighed,

 

“I know…I just…I didn’t know how to and I didn’t want you to worry even more than you already were and I j-”

 

“Even so you should have told me…we could ha-”

 

“Raj, there was nothing we could have done, I checked everything I could an-”

 

“I know b-”

 

“All it would have done was worry y-”

 

“Well, yeah! Of course it would s-”

 

For the second time of the night they’re cut off by the odd whistling and the burst of bright, shimmering, sparkling fireworks inches from the ceiling,

 

Raj huffed faintly,

 

“Oh come on, is that just your standard ‘go to’ move to stop people talking, can’t you just whistle or yell shut up like a normal person?!”

 

Magnus and Luke both looked at him in surprise eyebrows raised,

 

_Oh crap…he said that out loud didn’t he?_

 “Er…umm…I mean…s-something not nearly as rude and confrontational?” he stammered eyes wide, scooting a bit further away on the couch (And maybe ducking just a tiny bit behind Divya…

 

Magnus seemed to like her a lot more than him).

 

Magnus gave a slight chuckle, giving a careless wave, sending bright shimmering violet sparks fluttering through the air,

 

“Hmm…well, usually someone taking such a tone with me would be in for quite the unpleasant awakening…

 

But…I suppose, given all you have been through I can let it slide…

 

Just this once.” He smirked, giving a dangerously playful wink before glancing at Divya and Luke,

 

“And I do have other ways, but this was oh so effective the first time. In any case we are not here to play the blame game…

 

At least not with either of you.

 

Everyone’s caught up, we all agree Raj is not at fault and as the true culprit has skipped town- or rather is currently back in its own hell dimension- we are now left without a logical end to this whole ‘Branding Murder’s’ escapade.

 

We need to come up with a believable scapegoat, a back story for said scapegoat, what their motivation was, and how they died…

 

I already got the ball rolling-

 

When they get the flames at the building out they will find the remains of a man. It will be far too decimated to identify without dental records which we can whip up and slip into the system just as soon as we get all the details hammered out.

 

Both Alexander and Simon heard the name ‘Raj’ so it must be something fairly similar to that…though I’d rather like to keep from flat out using the name if possible.

 

Also Alexander saw you so the physical description really should be fairly close.

 

I figured the shockwaves and the fire can all be attributed to a chemical accident, so that gives us something else to work with as well. It’s not much, but it’s a start.” He paused, quirking his eyebrow, glancing around at the rather flummoxed others before giving a sharp clap, startling them faintly

 

 “Well, what are we waiting for? We have an entire life and tragic backstory to fabricate and destroy…

 

There really is no time to waste!”

 

Luke groaned, the sound tapering off into a slight growl,

 

“You DO remember I’m not only a cop but the chief of the BPD, right? Must you sound so **_damn_** chipper about manufacturing evidence?”

 

Magnus gave a faint chuckle, quirking his eyebrow mischievously,

 

Luke groaned louder,

 

“Don’t e-”

 

“Now, now…no sense getting you hackles up, we can’t very well leave your detectives out there chasing their own tails or barking up the wrong tree…

 

We really need to fetch some answers.”

 

Divya snickered, shaking her head,

 

“Wow…that was really bad.”

 

Magnus chuckled giving a slight nod,

 

“Yes…I agree…I must be tired…we really need to get started.

 

So, the first thing we need is…”

 

Raj settled back into the couch as the warlock, the werewolf and his supernatural teenage sister began to piece together a believable false identity for a deranged killer…

 

While dodging painfully bad dog puns launched at the werewolf by the warlock…

_Yeah…Alec totally had it better…_

_He’d take a concussion over this insanity any day…_

##  _ Forty-Five Minutes Later… _

 

The killer was a man named Rodger Young (Rodge would sound like Raj over the phone easy enough)

 

 

‘Rodge’ was a chemical engineer. Either from stress, exposure to mind altering chemicals, or a combination thereof he had a mental break, begin seeing monsters everywhere and was trying to find a way to protect humanity from them.

 

 

Using his background in chemical engineering he was able to develop the chemicals used to administer the brands which were to protect the humans against the monstrous threat. In order to get subjects for the tests he also created a type of roofie that was administered with a finger prick and acted almost instantaneously, rendering the victims highly suggestible- that’s how he got the victims to follow him.

 

He wasn’t trying to kill them, just protect them, but something went wrong. The chemicals in the brands reacted with the ones in the sedative, causing them to relax so much that their bodies totally shut down.

 

He was mixing the chemicals and something slipped, that’s was the cause of the shockwaves.

 

Magnus and Raphael were closer than Simon, heard the shockwave, knew Alec was supposed to be there, as Simon had told them. They went up to check, found the detective tied up. Raphael helped Alec out while Magnus tried to get Rodger to come down but he refused.

 

The man was totally deranged, ranting and raving. Magnus tried again to get him to leave but he refused and flew into a rage, knocking over the chemicals, they ignited and Magnus could do nothing for him.

 

The case will be closed- humans will just think it’s a sad story, someone lost it…Supernatural’s will either be in on it (Luke and a few others) or think the poor man was one of the humans that couldn’t handle the truth of the supernatural

 

Everything goes back to normal…

 

Raj shook his head blinking rapidly, trying to comprehend what the hell just happened…

 

In less than an hour these guys have perfectly constructed a background, a totally made up character, produced completely realistic dental, school and health records, career history, freaking facebook, instagram account, and every other modern day footprint you could think of as well as every last scrap of evidence they could possibly need to tie the case up cleanly and perfectly…

 

_In less than an hour they have created a fake person that had a better social life and credit rating than Raj!_

_Oh man…he was in so far over his head it’s not even funny…_

 

He shook his head trying to come back to the craziness at hand, looking at the other three,

 

“S-so that’s it…really? That’s all it takes to, like fabricate an entire person? A bit of imagination and a sparkly wave of a hand?”

 

Magnus huffed out a slight laugh, giving a faint nod,

 

“Yes, that’s pretty much it. Everything will be sorted out, you are free and clear and the rest of the general population can move along with their lives…

 

As I said; no fuss, no muss.”

 

Raj scoffed, shaking his head uncomprehendingly,

 

“I-I just can’t believe it was that easy…it’s kind of scary.”

 

Luke gave a slightly empathetic sigh, nodding,

 

“Well…unfortunately this happens more often than you would probably like to think. There is an entire hidden world, when it crosses over, when the answer to a crime is totally supernatural, something that cannot actually be told to a general human population sometimes you simply can’t give them the truth, and no one is just going to let it go.

 

It’s not pleasant, but it’s what we have to do.”

 

Magnus gave a slight nod, glancing over at Luke,

 

“That is quite true, but it really is best to avoid all of this cover up drama… far better if you can spot the drama when it begins, when it is easily contained before it gets to this extant.

 

It would be far easier if we had a bit of a safeguard to keep an eye out for these kinds of things…”

 

Luke nodded consideringly,

 

“That really would be good. It’s save all of us a hell of a lot of trouble.”

 

Magnus beamed,

 

“ _Wonderful!_ I knew you would agree. Good to know I’ll have the backing of the BPD, it will make it quite a bit easier.”

 

Luke froze, eyes widening in confusion, and faint trepidation,

 

“Will make **_what_** easier?” he gritted out

 

Magnus tilted his head

 

“Why, My PI agency of course!”

 

Luke groaned (Okay it was actually closer to a growl, and his eyes did that flashy green thing…)

 

“You were serious about that?”

 

 

Magnus smirks quirking his eyebrow,

 

 

“Yes, of course I was. Though it will not just be me- Raphael and Divya will be helping as well.

 

Oh by the way, if me and Raph are going to be hanging around the precinct you have GOT to talk to your people- both times I came in they just froze and stared…it was entertaining the first time but really the humans are bound to pick up on it…They have got to get it together.”

 

He huffed, rubbing his temple, giving another more-growl-than-groan

 

“Well give them a break; they’re not used to being around what is likely the most powerful warlock in existence…it takes some adjustments…”

 

Magnus gave an unconcerned shrug,

 

“Yes well, they need to adjust quicker…with this new business I will probably be there rather frequently-“

 

“To hit on my head detective?”

 

Magnus tilted his head

 

“Well…not JUST that…but yes. Alexander really is quite captivating; it would be delightful to continue working with him. Also I do believe Raph is quite taken with Simon so there is a good chance he’ll be around more as well- although that will only be in the evening, for obvious reasons…”

 

_“It’s a Police Precinct! Not a singles bar!”_

 

Raj leaned back against the couch again, shaking his head at the sheer ridiculousness of this entire thing.

 

In a matter of hours he went from thinking he was working with an angel in an effort to banish monsters and save humanity to setting on their couch with his newly super powered teenage sister listening to a warlock and a werewolf arguing about the warlock using the werewolf’s police precinct to pick up dates…

_Also something about a vampire…_

 

Who he was probably gonna meet soon as his sister was going to be working with both the Vampire AND the Warlock…

 

_Yeah…this had to be real…_

_There was NO way he was imaginative enough to come up with this insanity._

 

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#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

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**_  (Izzy) _ **

“I’m so glad you’re alright Alec.” Clary said once more, squeezing his hand faintly,

 

Alec nodded giving her a grateful smile

 

“Me too, I still don’t really know how I made it out but I’m pretty sure it all had to of came down to luck. So I’m really glad I had your necklace…

 

Clearly I needed all the help I could get on this.”

 

She gave a soft laugh,

 

“Yes, you really did…but I suppose close scrapes and the like are all part of the job for you, I’m sure you’re trained to deal with all kinds of danger.”

 

Alec shrugged

 

“That’s true…though gotta admit ‘what to do when you’re chosen for a demon sacrifice’ was not covered in academy.”

 

She giggled, brushing her hair back, eyes sparkling bright, quirking her brow,

 

“Really? Huh…that’s like day one with the whole occult, wiccan thing.”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh,

 

“Well I for one am glad…oh! Here you can ha-” he began, reaching up to take off the necklace going to hand it back,

 

She shook her head,

 

“No, it’s yours…It’s meant for you, keep it please. Never know when you can use a bit of extra luck.”

 

He shook his head faintly but gave a bit of a smile,

 

“That’s definitely true. As soon as I get out of here I’ll try to track down the people who vandalized your shop.”

 

She sighed,

 

“It’s really not necessary; I know who it was. They’re not bad people, they wouldn’t have hurt me. They were just scared by the supernatural slant this case seemed to be taking and lashed out at the only connection they saw.

 

I can’t fault them for being scared.”

 

Izzy shook her head,

 

“Being scared doesn’t excuse damaging someone’s business. They should be held accountable.”

 

Clary shifted her gaze from Alec over to her, giving a nod

 

“They are. I’ve seen them a couple times since it happen, they feel horrible about what they did, but they don’t know how to make it right.

 

I fixed the shop, reopened, the case is solved and they know that neither I nor my shop had anything to do with it. They have to live with the guilt of what they did and they will until they make amends…

 

But that doesn’t mean anything if they are forced or ordered to do so…it has to come from them. They’ll figure it out and find a way to make it right, but it needs to be on their terms and in their own time.” She shrugged

 

“Man, you are way too nice.” Izzy muttered

 

Clary giggled,

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment. I don’t think I’m too nice, I just prefer to give people the benefit of a doubt, they tend to surprise you.”

 

Izzy gave a short laugh

 

“Yeah…but it’s not usually a good surprise.”

 

Clary shook her head giving an amused smile,

 

“Don’t be so pessimistic!”

 

Izzy shook her head right back, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“I’m not being pessimistic…I’m being realistic, working in law enforcement you see the worst of people so often…and as most of the people I work with are dead- and more often than not murdered, that’s..err..umm…” she trailed off, glancing away, hearing Alec coughing, badly trying to cover a laugh…she’d be annoyed but…

 

Well… if it was anyone else bombing this badly she wouldn’t even be hiding the laugh

 

_God what the hell was going on with her?!_

_You don’t just casually mention you work with dead people when you’re talking to a pretty girl!_

_She’s never this awkward!_

She’s seemingly alternating between blurting out awkward things, totally tongue tied, or laughs that are way too close to a giggle…

 

_Oh god….she’s acting like SIMON_

She took a deep breath, chancing a glance back at Clary, hoping she didn’t look too creeped out,

 

_Wow…_

She has a sweet, warm smile, eyes sparkling in amusement; she shook her head faintly, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Izzy, I’m a wiccan who own an occult shop, mentioning you work with the dead is not the immediate conversation killer it would be with most. I know how squeamish that makes a lot of people but I’ve never really had issues with it.

 

What you do is important; you help give a voice to those who no longer have one, and find the truth which helps those left behind heal from the loss.

 

There is nothing gruesome or macabre about that.”

 

Izzy blinked a few times, feeling her cheeks heating up, not really sure what to say to that.

 

Finally she swallowed, shaking her head faintly,

 

“Okay, can you like, write that down for me or something cause that sounds a hell of a lot prettier than just ‘I work with dead bodies’.”

 

Clary gave a bright laugh, nodding

 

“Sure no problem…and hey, you want to see an immediate conversation killer, mention you’re a wiccan who owns an occult shop to a group of conservatives…you can hear a pin drop after that.”

 

Izzy laughed,

 

“Oh, better yet mention you’re a lesbian Wiccan occult shop owner.”

 

Clary giggled, shaking her head faintly, before startling, slightly catching sight of the clock on the wall, glancing back at Alec apologetically

 

“Oh goodness, I’ve taken up way too much of your time, I should get going; you really should get some rest.”

 

Alec and Izzy both glanced over at the clock as well, surprised that nearly two hours had passed, it was nearly three.

 

Izzy gave a slight nod,

 

“Yeah, I should head out too. Max will be by about four and I think Casey and Isaac will be tagging along too as, well…they always do.” She gave an affectionate eyeroll and a shrug,

 

Alec chuckled nodding,

 

“In all likelihood, that’s okay though. I’m glad Max has such supportive friends. But yeah, if I’m gonna be facing three teenagers I should probably take a nap first.

 

Thanks for everything Iz. And Clary, thanks again, if you ever have any other problems at the shop just let me know, I’ll help however I can.”

 

Clary gave a slight, mysterious smile, tilting her head,

 

“Thank you Alec, but I’m sure that was just a one time thing. It really was wonderful meeting you and I’m sure I’ll see you more often at the shop.”

 

Alec shook his head faintly,

 

“Well, no offense, but I’m probably not gonna be spending too much of my time hanging out in an occult shop…and hopefully we don’t have any more cases involving summoning sigils and demon sacrifices.”

 

She gave a light giggle,

 

“I think we’ve more than reached our quota for those for a while. But Mag’s is at the shop all the time, eventually he’ll begin dragging you along too.”

 

Alec blushed,

 

“Umm…w-what...” he stammered

 

She gave a slight shrug,

 

“Just a feeling…Sweet dreams, detective.” she finished with a playful wink, turning for the door, leaving Alec sputtering and stammering,

 

Izzy chuckled,

 

“Go ahead and take your nap Alec, like you said with the teens you’ll need it…besides, Maybe you’ll get lucky and dream about your knight in flawless eyeliner.” She winked playfully, hearing Clary’s bright, tinkling laugh from just outside the hallway,

 

Izzy gave a quick waved goodbye before he could find a comeback, quickly turning trying to catch up the the pretty redhead.

 

 _“I told you not to call him that!”_ Alec called after her,

 

She and Clary both laughed, the girl slowing down, waiting for her to catch up, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Knight in flawless eyeliner?”

 

Izzy laughed, nodding faintly falling into step beside her,

 

“Yeah…Alec dreamt that Magnus dramatically stormed in and rescued him, he’s my brother I am obligated to tease him about his crush...” she hesitated taking a deep breath, glancing over as they climbed in the elevator, quickly hitting the lobby button before turning back to her,

 

“Besides, I may as well do it while I can…I know he’s gonna do the same thing to me the second he gets a chance.”

 

Clary tilted her head curiously, brushing her hair back, eyes dimming slightly,

 

“Oh…umm…you have a crush?”

 

Izzy shrugged, glancing up meeting her eyes,

 

“It’s kinda seeming that way…”

 

Clary’s eyes widened, she blushed brightly, nodding,

 

“O-oh…umm…you mean…oh…” she glanced away nervously,

 

Izzy deflated a bit, shaking her head,

 

“Um…I-if you’re not interested o-”

 

Clary shook her head quickly,

 

“It’s definitely not that.” she said glancing over Izzy, blushing even more, idily twisting a few shimmering red curls around her finger,

 

“Most defiantly not that…” she muttered almost to herself,

 

That gave Izzy a bit of a thrill, and a little more confidence, she shrugged, settling in even closer,

 

“So…are you seeing someone?”

 

Clary shook her head,

 

“N-no…”

 

“Well than…what’s wrong?”

 

Clary sighed, giving a faint shrug,

 

“I-it’s just…you seem really great; you’re beautiful and brave and _unbelievably_ smart…y-you’re really amazing…but we’re just SO different, an-”

 

Izzy settled a bit closer, shrugging again,

 

“Well, yeah that’s true…but you know…sometimes opposites attract?”

 

Clary giggled faintly, glancing up at her, slipping closer,

 

“I knew you were gonna say that.”

 

Izzy quirked her eyebrow,

 

“Because you’re kinda psychic?”

 

Clary giggled again, shaking her head,

 

“Which you don’t believe…”

 

Izzy chuckled,

 

“I can be convinced…though that would mean spending more time together…”

 

Clary laughed, quirking her eyebrow, slipping even closer,

 

“And how exactly will we find out if we’re the kind of opposites that attract?”

 

“You mean you can’t see that?”

 

“I can’t see my own future…spoiler alerts and all that…”

 

Izzy laughed, nodding,

 

“Of course…well…

 

If we can’t find the answer your way maybe we can my way. I’m a scientist….maybe we can do an experiment?”

 

Clary quirked her eyebrow, giving her a sarcastic look

 

Izzy burst out laughing,

 

“Umm…n-not that kind of experiment…well. not that I’d be opposed to that- like in ANY way- but it’s not really what I was talking about.

 

What if we just have, like…a test run? There’s a coffee shop right across the street, we can go over, grab a table, have a drink or snack and just see how it goes?”

 

 

Clary giggles

 

 

“Otherwise known as a coffee date?”

 

 

Izzy shrugs,

 

 

“Well…yeah…but that doesn’t let me casually work in the impressive fact that I’m a scientist.”

 

 

Clary giggles again, bright green eyes sparkling

 

 

“Hmm…I’m a Wiccan…suppose we could see if there’s any magic...”

 

 

Izzy grins, nodding as the elevator door dinged, sliding open, she reached over, holding it open for Clary before stepping out herself, lightly resting her hand on the pretty wiccans back,

 

 

“Okay then; let the magical experiment begin.”

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> Oh my god I swear I will eventually have a short chapter damnit!
> 
> This was originally supposed to be from Magnus’s POV but Raj just seemed to fit better.
> 
> Can I say how much I love the fact that I got Izzy and Clary’s part up on Valentines day?
> 
> _So what do you guys think so far?_


	7. About Last Night…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> Simon tells Kevin about his evening with Raphael,
> 
> And Magnus goes to visit Alec in the hospital.

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#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

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“Hey Kev I-” Simon began

 

Kevin scrambled off the couch, hurrying over towards the door

 

“Oh thank god! Where have you been I’ve been trying to reach you all night! I was just getting ready to call in and ask Luke w-

 

…and why the hell are you smiling like that!? And you stopped for breakfast? Oh god…have you been spelled? I don’t see one but I don’t know if it’s like different with Gwir-dysts, I mean we can’t see that you can see us, maybe we can’t see when you’ve been spelled either how am i-”

 

He’s cut off by Simon bursting out laughing,

 

He paused, glaring, huffing faintly,

 

“Okay you better be spelled or have a hell of an explanation…”

 

Simon laughed again, holding his hands up placatingly, quickly shaking his head, trying to school his features but unable to totally get rid of the giddy grin,

 

“Okay, calm down…I’m not spelled, and I totally can explain…the breakfast is for you, well us, as a peace offering-sorry for worrying you. You know me and my phone; I put it down upside down and forgot it mutes it.

 

I didn’t notice until nearly an hour ago and I would have called or texted but it’s just way too much to get into on the phone.

 

But it’s okay…

 

It REALLY is, I swear.

 

I’m fine…everything’s fine…a-actually everything is really _freaking_ awesome!

 

Umm…” he trailed off, giving a slight giddy laugh, blushing faintly, gesturing over to the couch,

 

“Can we just sit down and have our breakfast and I’ll explain everything? I have today off so we can take as much time as we need.”

 

Kevin gave a slight nod, beginning over to the couch, hesitantly glancing over at Simon again, tilting his head questioningly,

 

“Are you sure you haven’t been spelled? You’re acting really weird.”

 

Simon chuckled again, shaking his head placing their coffees and the box of pastries on the coffee table, before turning back to him giving a beaming smile.

 

“I’m really sure, totally fine; I’m just in a really good mood.”

 

Kevin tilted his head suspiciously,

 

“Uh huh…” he paused, eyes widening faintly, he gasped almost startling,

 

“Oh my god, did you like hook up with someone or something!? _Who!?_ Not that I want the details bu-”

 

Simon laughed, shaking his head again,

 

“No…nothing like that…

 

I-I was with Raphael. We ended up talking all night….”

 

Kevin blinked,

 

And kept blinking,

 

“Y-you, w-what…you and R…w-where?” he trailed off uncomprehendingly,

 

Simon shrugged, brushing his hair back,

 

“Umm…at his apartment, in the Sunset Sky rise?”

 

Kevin startled

 

_“What the hell were you doing going into the nest of the most infamous Vampire clan in recent history?!”_

 

“U-umm…w-well after Raphael figured out I was a Gwir-dyst h-”

 

**_“HE WHAT!?”_ **

 

He scrambled up, rushing around the apartment,

 

“Oh my god, we have to move, we have to start packing, I’ll call mom and dad and tell them we’re coming for a visit and t-”

 

Simon stood up catching his arm,

 

“Dude! Stop, chill, it’s fine…like I said, we’re good…he’s keeping it a secret. It’s okay; no one’s coming to get us, we don’t have to move.”

 

He shook his head quickly, eyes wide,

 

“I-I, but why w…how…him and Magnus…w-w-”

 

Simon took a deep breath, squeezing his arm slightly, leading him back to the couch,

 

“Okay, we’re getting sidetracked, just let me tell you the whole story, then I will answer everything,

 

But I promise everything is alright.

 

Okay?”

 

Kevin took a couple deep breaths, nodding faintly,

 

“Okay, but please explain quickly, I am totally freaking out here.”

 

Simon chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Really? I’d never guess, you hide it SO well.”

 

Kevin huffed, glaring

 

“Just get on with it.” he grumbled,

 

Simon nodded, taking a deep breath,

 

“Okay, so yesterday there was a lot that happened;

 

We met with Magnus in the morning and went to see Izzy and the body, Magnus recognized the marks- which by the way wasn’t actually Enochian, but an ancient demonic language called Iaith-wrth- it’s from Calon tywyll, which is apparently where Demons actually originate from...

 

Needless to say he couldn’t explain to two human detectives that the language was a demonic language that’s never even been seen in this realm, much less that he could actually read it, so he said he’d never seen it and of course Alec-being Alec- noticed it and called him out on it.

 

He got mad, Magnus started to as well and I could see his Magic flaring up, I didn’t think he’d do anything to us but I didn’t want to chance it so I tried to smooth it over…it didn’t really work, Alec snapped we’d work the case on our own- which just was not gonna work-

 

I tried to reason with him only I got frustrated when he kept going round and round about Magnus lying and I finally snapped that it was probably for his own good- which went over about as well as you’d expect.” He paused,

 

Kevin snorted, shaking his head,

 

“Ah crap…”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“Yup.

 

So he got mad at ME and started to think that I was siding with Magnus, then he said that I was reacting to Magnus just like all the others at the station w-”

 

_“Oh crap!”_

 

“I know-”

 

Kevin shook his head

 

“Why didn’t you call me?”

 

Simon shrugged,

 

“I wanted to, I started to but I just didn’t have the time…I was basically working the case alone as my partner was off sulking and Magnus was off working alone and Raphael was still stuck inside as the sun was still out.

 

I figured I’d give him time to calm down and try to talk to him later. I met with Annabelle on the case and we had footage of the killer- well…actually he wasn’t the killer- he was just a poor dude who tried to call an angel to help his little sister who was attacked by this creepy ass fire scorpion- Raphael told me the name but, dude, you do NOT want me trying to pronounce it.

 

Anyways he screwed up in trying to call an angel and instead wrote a summoning symbol in Iaith-wrth and ended up calling a demon…only the demon heard the call so it disguised itself as an angel and showed the poor guy all the Supernaturals, like all at once no warning or anything, telling him they were invading, there to wipe out the human race…

 

He thought the spell would save humanity but it would actually open a gateway to Calon tywyll and let in all the nightmare creatures and powerful demons and everything else, so... uh yeah dude was kinda messed up after that but he came back to help with the demon so Magnus was going to help him get it all sorted and probably help with the sister-

 

I guess she’s now a supernatural with Pyrokinetic/telekinetic powers…so it’s kinda a really complicated case. I don’t know how their gonna sort that- though when Magnus called Raphael he DID say the top of the building was on fire…which I’m kinda okay with as I don’t know if there were anymore of the creepy Demon/lizard/dog things and really seven of them was more than enough for a lifetime-”

 

Kevin held a finger up, eyes widening,

 

“Umm…demon/lizard/dogs?”

 

Simon nodded quickly,

 

“Well, I guess technically their called Madfall-ci, but seriously that does NOT cover the things. Hellhounds a better fit.

 

About four feet long, built like some bizarre, unholy combination of a dingo and a crocodile.

 

Thick, smooth, leathery greenish black hairless skin, long limbs, deadly claws, and elongated, crocodilian like snapping jaws filled with long, razor sharp jagged teeth and slobber.”

 

Kevin blinked, shaking his head,

 

“H-how the hell do you deal with something like that?”

 

Simon shrugged,

 

“Raphael threw two off the third floor landing and they died when they hit the stone floor,

 

Another he slammed into the wall.

 

The other four I shot to keep them from eating him…or Alec who was thankfully unconscious for all this.

 

That’s when Raphael realized I was a Gwir-dyst…I guess humans can’t actually see Madfall-ci, like at all…even in an attack…which somehow makes them even MORE creepy.”

 

“I-I bu…okay, wait…why was Alec there at all? Much less unconscious?”

 

Simon startled

 

“Oh, right! I forgot to tell you that part; when he was out investigating on his own he got a call from some dude saying he had info on Magnus, and since Alec was pissed and irrational it didn’t sit off any alarms.

 

He went to meet the guy, it was Raj, and a trap, the demon chose Alec for the final sacrifice.”

 

“WHAT!?”

 

“I know, right!? But I guess for the spell to work they needed someone selfless and pure of heart, a protector of the people…

 

That’s Alec to a tee…

 

I don’t know why they chose people who looked so similar; Raphael said there was nothing in the spell so in all likelihood the demon just had a type.”

 

Kevin shivered slightly

 

“Ugh…”

 

Simon nodded,

 

“Yup…that’s how I reacted too.

 

Anyways, when Alec was going to meet Raj he called me to apologize, but- once again- I forgot to turn my phone back on after we left Izzy’s. He left where he was meeting Raj, the old Brentwood Manufacturing building- which just happened to be six stories right in the center of the hexagram.

 

When I got the message I freaked, I called Magnus told him what was going on, he started to try to come up with an explanation but I just told him I really didn’t care how he did what he did someone needed to get Alec out of there.

 

Him and Raphael went in, fought the demon and rescued Alec, but by that time Raj had actually saw the demon, saw through its glamour and ran away…which Raphael told me a bit about it and I can’t say I blame the dude.

 

Magnus needed his blood to send it back, that was the only way…The only other options were for the demon to go back willingly or to kill it.

 

Raphael was hurt, the demon almost threw him through the window and clawed his leg open- Raphael thinks it had some kind of poison in its claws cause he really wasn’t feeling right.

 

Magnus ordered Raphael to get Alec and himself out of there and to find me- to get us all to a safe distance-

 

I guess if he had to he was gonna bring down the entire building.

 

Anyways,

 

Raphael figured out what I was, I wanted to explain but then I saw Alec and thought he was dead, and then the building was shaking and we thought it was gonna come down. I went to help him get Alec out, he hissed, and bared his fangs, I snapped at him and between the two of us we got Alec to the hospital and checked in.

 

After that I tried to explain but at first he wouldn’t listen, I kinda lost it and yelled at him and kinda unloaded all of the frustration involved in this whole ‘gwir-dyst in disguise’ thing.

 

It kinda worked though…

 

He agreed to hear me out, we went to his apartment because it was gonna be a long conversation a-”

 

Kevin again held up a finger

 

“S-so, just so I’m clear. One of the most feared Vampires in the country found out what you are, hissed at you, basically threatened you, and then you just agree to go to his apartment-otherwise known as the nest of the entire freaking Brooklyn Vampire Clan, which he’s the undisputed leader OF-

 

  _Completely_ alone without even so much as sending a quick text as a kind of heads up?”

 

Simon sighed, giving a faint nod,

 

“Yeah…I know it was kinda crazy…okay so it was completely bat-crap insane…but…I don’t know.

 

Magnus had called and he’d purposefully mentioned me being human as why he couldn’t just tell me we didn’t have to take Alec to the hospital…

 

He was giving me a chance.

 

I know it was a crazy risk, but…I didn’t really see another option. I was asking him to trust me, I figured I had to show him some trust as well…

 

A-and I’m REALLY glad I did.” he trailed off, giving a slightly dreamy sigh,

 

Kevin groaned, rubbing at his face, before looking back at Simon,

 

“So, by the bubbly, bouncing mood when you got home and the sappy dreamy sigh just now I’m gonna assume the all night talk went pretty well?”

 

Simon chuckled, nodding, blushing slightly,

 

“Umm…yeah…yeah, it went really well…

 

We talked about everything; me growing up, finding out about the supernatural, and gwir-dyst, going to the police about my parents- which I guess has an actual, like name and everything ‘the Reckoning of the Hunters’ which sounds totally kickass by the way-

 

And he told me about growing up, his death, meeting Magnus…e-everything…

 

I know it doesn’t sound romantic but…

 

Wow…it really was one of the most amazing nights of my life.

 

I really don’t think I’ve ever just connected with someone like that…it was kinda unbelievable…

 

a-and I’m pretty sure he felt it too.” he paused, sighing again, looking up hopefully,

 

 “W-we actually have a date for Saturday.”

 

Kevin blinked, shaking his head,

 

Y-you…oh wow…that is something. And you’re going to go?”

 

Simon nodded

 

“Yeah…I really can’t wait. I know how crazy it sounds and it’s a huge risk but…i….” he trailed off sighing, giving a slight breath of a laugh,

 

“Kev…I really don’t think I’ve ever felt like this about anyone.”

 

Kevin took a deep breath, giving him a slight smile, nodding faintly

 

“Well…then it’s really good he knows the truth. I kind of think you’re insane, but if he’s as great as you seem to think than I’m happy for you. Maybe him finding out will be for the best.

 

I know you liked him already, but where worried about having to hide the truth from him…and if he was interested in you as well- which how you were talking before I think he was- he was probably feeling the same way.

 

At least this way you both can start on the same page and you both really know what you’re getting into right off the bat.” He paused smiling, slipping his arm around Simon’s shoulders, squeezing faintly,

 

“I’m really happy for you Si…”

 

Simon sighed, leaning into the hug, nodding slightly against his shoulder,

 

“Thanks Kev. And I’m sorry I didn’t call, I really meant to, I j-” he trailed off giving a loud yawn

 

Kevin chuckled, waving him off,

 

“Si, it’s fine…I know how tech-challenged you are, really we’re good…I’m just glad it all worked out.” he gestured towards the pastries on the coffee table,

 

“Why don’t we put this up and have it for lunch later? I have some errands I have to run since I’m back at work tomorrow and as YOU spent the entire night canoodling with the Head Of The Brooklyn Vampire Clan you probably should get some sleep.”

 

Simon laughed, rolling his eyes

 

“We were just talking…”

 

Kevin quirked his eyebrow impishly,

 

“Okay so we may have kinda ended up cuddled up on the couch, but it was a super intense conversation…and it was really nice…

 

He even held my hand and walked me to the door.”

 

Kevin snorted, shaking his head,

 

“What? He did!”

 

He laughed

 

“No, I believe you; it just doesn’t seem like the behavior of one of the most feared vampires in the country.”

 

Simon shrugged, standing up, stretching slightly,

 

“Well…there’s a lot more to him than just that. He told me the whole story- and oh my god it’s totally insane- but he really does seem like a great guy…

 

One of the best people I’ve ever met…” he sighed again,

 

Kevin nodded reassuringly,

 

“He sounds like it.

 

Okay, you need to get some rest and I need to get going. I’ll see you later…just if in the next few hours you decide to wander into a fairy hill or a werewolf den or whatever the heck else, text me first!”

 

Simon laughed, nodding, giving a playful thumbs up,

 

“Got it…no diving into crazy dangerous supernatural situations without my fearless were-deer backup.”

 

Kevin huffed out a laugh, rolling his eyes,

 

Simon shook his head,

 

“Don’t worry Kev; think I’ve reached the danger quota for a while. Have a good day, see you later.”

 

 “Night Si, I’m just glad everything turned out so well for you…I really don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.” Kevin shrugged, giving a slight wave turning to the door,

 

Simon waved back, turning for his room, hearing the front door close,

 

“Same here Kev…same here.”

 

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

Magnus slipped silently through the door, catching sight of Izzy stretched out on the couch, out like a light. He slipped over, quickly flickering his fingers, a shimmering violet light flickering over her eyes,

 

She sighed, cuddling further down into the couch.

 

It was just a brush of a spell, it’d only last an hour…plus it would really help boost her energy and relax her- in the hour she’d get the equivalent of a full eight hours of sleep-

 

The girl deserved it, she had to have been worried sick waiting by Alexander’s bedside, fearing the worst.

 

The added assurance that she wouldn’t wake up and find him in the room was just an added benefit.

 

He turned from the couch, making his way over to the bed in the middle of the room, Alexander stretched out, propped up slightly in the bed, sleeping peacefully. The nurse that’d directed him to the room told him they had to give him some medicine for the beginning of a migraine, a common side effect of the concussion.

 

He sighed,

 

_God, he hated that the detective had to deal with that…he was checked in now, had been checked over by numerous doctors…it’d be pretty suspicious if he just woke up with no traces of the concussion._

 

He’d do what he could- take away the pain, safeguard against the migraines and such but he couldn’t just take it all away…no matter how much he wanted to.

 

It would raise too many questions…

 

He reached forward, lightly brushing his fingers over the bump on his temple, hissing faintly in sympathy at the nasty, dark bruise,

 

It would be so very easy to heal, but far too many normal humans had seen it.

 

He sighed letting the magic flicker through his fingers, easing the pain, fixing everything that wouldn’t be glaringly obvious…

 

He would seem to heal remarkably quickly but he was careful to keep it to a normal human pace.

 

Idly he ran his fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his face, trailing down his cheek,

 

Alec sighed in his sleep, turning into the touch, eyes fluttering,

 

Magnus gasped softly, going to pull away but seemingly freezing,

 

“Hmm…” Alec murmured, shifting slightly, blinking a few times, eyes landing on Magnus, widening in surprise, seemingly confused,

 

“U-umm…I w-” he stammered

 

Alec’s eyes dimmed for a moment before he smiled brightly, reaching up catching Magnus hand still against his cheek, turning into it, giving a soft, contented sigh, nuzzling lightly

 

_Magnus may have slightly squeaked at that but he’s not admitting anything…_

He opened his eyes again, with a soft, breathtaking smile, squeezing his hand lightly still leaning into the touch,

 

“You came to visit me in the hospital?

 

Wow…I was really wrong about you…I’m real sorry I yelled at you…”

 

Magnus shook his head

 

“Darling it’s fine, and you were right t-”

 

Alec shook his head, again squeezing his hand, nuzzling against it,

 

“No I wasn’t I yelled at you…I shouldn’t yell at you…you’re really nice…and funny…and pretty…” he trailed off, reaching up, tracing along Magnus’s jaw and cheek,

 

“Hmm….god…you’re so pretty…” he murmured voice soft and dreamy,

 

_There was that squeak sound again…_

He swallowed trying to get his voice to work,

 

“Thank you sweetheart.”

 

Alec frowned slightly, almost pouting, shaking his head faintly…

 

_It was painfully endearing,_

“You probably hear that a lot…probably so much it gets boring hearing it, but I’m not really great at coming up with pretty, fancy compliments…

 

I really wish I was…well not usually…but I wish I was with you…pretty really isn’t enough, but I don’t know a word that IS…

 

I don’t think there _is_ a word that is…” he huffed, pouting more,

 

_Oh good lord…_

_How the hell was he supposed to handle this guy?_

_Bad enough he’s gorgeous with a sinfully sexy voice, intelligent, brave, does not back down, and is so damn sincere it’s downright disarming…_

_Now he had to factor THIS in too?_

Magnus gave a slightly trembling whimper like sigh, turning faintly, nuzzling against his hand, pressing a soft kiss to his palm,

 

Alec’s breath caught,

 

Magnus took another deep breath, trying to center himself,

 

“Sweetheart, thank you, and I assure you any compliment you give me is anything but boring, regardless of how many times I’ve heard it in the past…

 

If it’s from you it is completely different.

 

From you it _always_ matters.”

 

Alec beamed, sighing dreamily, trailing his hand up from Magnus’s cheek, catching in his hair, tugging lightly

 

Magnus whimpered slightly, beginning to lean in before catching himself, taking a deep breath, pulling back,

 

Alec blinked in confusion, tilting his head,

 

“I...I thought yo…”

 

Magnus swallowed, shaking his head

 

“Alexander, I do…I am very interested in you; hell you drive me crazy…

 

But gorgeous? You don’t know what you’re doing right now.”

 

Alec gave a slight laugh, rolling his eyes,

 

“Yeah I do…I’m trying to kiss you…see? I know…” he tried to tug him in again,

 

Magnus couldn’t help a slight laugh,

 

“Yes my darling detective…but you are currently in a hospital bed with a concussion on painkillers…

 

You may know right now…

 

That doesn’t mean you will remember tomorrow…

 

And I cannot risk that.”

 

Alec pouted, giving a faint huff,

 

Magnus chuckled, leaning forward, pressing a light, soft kiss to his forehead,

 

Alec’s breath caught, he sighed softly,

 

“Hmm…I like it when you do that…it’s better like this when I can see you, but the last time was nice too…”

 

Magnus froze, pulling back, eyes wide,

 

“W-what last time?”

 

Alec tilted his head, shrugging,

 

“Earlier, er…before…yesterday…when you saved me with the shimmering, flashing, crackly ‘stuff’…in the room with the creepy symbols and the guy and the terrifying nightmare thing with the claws that threw you into the wall…

 

When you had the other eyes…

 

The **_really_** pretty ones…” he paused eyes widening, shaking his head,

 

“Oh! Uh…T-these ones are really pretty too, but the gold ones are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen…

 

b-but I like these ones too…” he added quickly seemingly worried he’d offended Magnus,

 

Magnus froze trying to process what that meant…

 

_W-what the hell?_

_The spell he used should have wiped **All** magic from his memory…_

_Anything ‘shimmering flashy, or crackly’, much less his demon mark most definitely fell into that category…_

_Why didn’t it work? What could have possibly gone wrong?_

_He has done the spell countless times perfectly,_

_So many times he didn’t even have to say it out loud,_

_He’d never had any problems…_

_So w…_

“I-I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings…I really do like these eyes too. I do a-”

 

Magnus took a deep breath, giving a convincing smile, shaking his head, cutting him off,

 

“Oh darling it’s nothing like that….you didn’t.

 

I’m just rather overwhelmed by all the compliments, that’s all. Thank you sweetheart...” he let his hand trail up, running through his hair, magic flickering over his fingers, trying to check for any abnormalities in the lingering spell, but finding nothing.

 

_M-maybe it’s something to do with the concussion?_

 

Alec hummed contentedly, looking up at him, eyes soft and dreamy,

 

Magnus couldn’t fight off a slight sigh,

 

“I’m quite fond of your eyes too, they really are quite stunning. You are absolutely gorgeous darling.”

 

Alec huffed out a slight laugh, shaking his head,

 

“Eh…not really…I guess I’m okay, I mean I don’t think I’m unattractive or anything, but I’m really not that eye catching…

 

I’m not like you or Raphael, or Izzy or Jace…

 

Most people don’t really notice me…at least not like that.”

 

Magnus scoffed, shaking his head, running his hand back down his cheek, catching his chin, tilting his head up to meet his eyes,

 

“Darling I do so hate to contradict you, but you are just flat out wrong on that.

 

You are gorgeous…I’ll be the first to admit I can be shallow as hell-

 

When we first met you literally struck me dumb. For heaven’s sake…I spent the entire day shamelessly throwing myself at you, totally forgot about the case…

 

I let you arrest me.

 

 ** _Let_** you.

 

I could have gotten out of it in a snap but I wanted to see you longer…wanted to get a chance to find out more about the pretty detective with the sexy voice.

 

I sincerely doubt I’m the only one who noticed you, it’s probably far more likely that you simply don’t notice the attention…

 

Yet another infuriatingly endearing trait of yours.

 

I don’t know who that ‘Jace’ is, but you are flat out one of the most gorgeous people I have ever seen.

 

And I better not hear one more word to the contrary…

 

Is that clear, _detective?”_ he finished sharply,

 

Alec gulped, nodding quickly, eyes wide,

 

Magnus took a deep breath, trying to pull his power back, taking a step back as well, folding his arms over his chest, trying to give the detective a bit of space, the flickering about his arms settling, his eyes dimming,

 

_Oh great…scare the poor concussed detective…cause he hasn’t already been through enough craziness in the last day to last a lifetime…not to mention whatever the hell went wrong with the spell,_

_Really what was h-_

“Woah…that was **_really_** hot.” Alec exclaimed

 

That surprised a laugh from Magnus, quirking his eyebrow, shaking his head faintly,

 

“You really are perfect, aren’t you gorgeous?”

 

Alec gave a slight shrug, smiling,

 

“I don’t know…if I say ‘no’ will your eyes do that flickering, flashy, distracting thing that makes me feel kinda breathless and dizzy?

 

Cause if so then, umm…

 

No.”

 

Magnus gave a delighted laugh, shaking his head…

 

_This really was just far too much appeal for one normal human…Really there were Vampires, succubi and sirens that don’t have that much appeal…_

_It’s just irresistible…_

He reached forward resting his hand against Alec’s cheek, leaning in, pressing a soft kiss to the other cheek, lingering faintly, leaning over, nuzzling against his ear,

 

Alec’s breath caught, he shivered, giving a slight whimper-like gasp,

 

Magnus hummed softly,

 

“You, my darling detective are completely ridiculous and _completely_ intoxicating and I truly hope we can pick this up when you are sober and clearheaded.

 

But for now I really must leave before this gets out of hand.”

 

He turned slightly pressing one more soft, sweet, lingering kiss to his cheek, sighing faintly before pulling back, taking a deep breath, meeting his eyes,

 

“Get some rest darling; you really need it after all of this. I am so very relieved you are alright.”

 

Alec nodded giving a slight smile, catching his hand, squeezing once more,

 

“Me too, thank you Magnus.”

 

He shrugged,

 

“No thanks necessary, gorgeous…I did it for me just as much as for you; I’d just met you, I was in no way ready to say goodbye. ”

 

Alec blushed,

 

“I’m really glad I met you Magnus…and not just cause you saved my life…”

 

Magnus smiled softly, giving a slight nod,

 

“I am too darling…

 

Now why don’t you get some rest? The sooner you recuperate the sooner I can continue with my devilish plan to seduce you.” he finished with a playful, mischievous wink,

 

Alec blushed, rolling his eyes, settling back against the pillows,

 

“Night Magnus.” He called softly, already halfway asleep,

 

“Sweet dreams gorgeous…”

 

Alec gave a soft, sleepy laugh, sighing faintly, relaxing even more,

 

“Of course they’ll be...I just saw you…” he mumbled, breath evening out.

 

Magnus blushed, fumbling slightly with the doorknob before finally getting it open, slipping out into the hallway, making his way through the near deserted hall in a bit of a daze,

 

The man was beyond enthralling, there was no way around it…

 

But now there was even more reason to keep an eye on the oh so infatuating detective.

 

The spell he’d used was flawless, there were no abnormalities or mistakes…he’d done it the same way he had countless times over the centuries…

 

So what happened this time?

 

Why didn’t it work like it was supposed to?

 

Why did Alexander still remember his Magic and his real eyes?

 

_The ‘really pretty’ ones…_

That Alexander said were ‘the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen’…

 

He couldn’t fight down a slight giddy thrill at that…

 

Yes…he would most definitely have to keep a VERY close eye on the gorgeous, intriguing, intoxicating detective with the sexy voice and unbelievably captivating sincerity…

 

_Hmm…_

 He slipped into the same supply closet he’d portaled into, opening another with a quick, distracted flick of his wrist,

 

It would most definitely be a challenge…

 

_But… **Mmm** …_

He had a feeling it would be more than worth the effort.

 

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Hey! A whole chapter in one day! Look at that!_
> 
> _I really love Kevin and Simon’s relationship,_
> 
> _And poor Magnus is already in over his head…(Also we’re just gonna assume the night staff of the hospital is mainly supernatural’s and they’re not stupid enough to try to stand in the way of The High Warlock Of Brooklyn)_
> 
> _So, what do you all think so far?_


	8. Teenage  Drama And The Shovel Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ##  _ 💜💜Chapter Complete!!!💜💜 _
> 
>  
> 
> _Max and his friends come by to visit Alec in the hospital…_
> 
> _Raphael gets a VERY unexpected visitor_

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#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

****

_**Max: We’re leaving school now, Kasey’s driving so we’ll be there really soon.** _

__

Alec chuckles, shaking his head faintly.

 

Yeah he was really glad he got a bit of a nap in; the boys were very sweet, but they were quite a bit to handle all at once. Still it was to be expected.

 

If Max was somewhere usually Isaac and Kasey weren’t too far behind. It always made Alec smile how protective they were of each other; it was a real relief knowing Max had such strong support.

 

Of course he had his siblings but as they were all well over a decade older than him they had all moved out of their parents home before he was even old enough to start school-

None of them really wasted any time finding their own places. Actually for Jace and Izzy’s last year of high school they’d technically lived at Alec’s…that… _yeah_ ,

 

They both decided the summer between junior and senior year to come out to their parents, Izzy as lesbian, Jace as Bi, figuring since they’d had over five years to adjust to Alec being out it wouldn’t be too bad…

 

They were wrong.

 

It was a VERY tense year- a really tense  _ **few**_  years. Lots of drama, lots of yelling, lots of really harsh conversations and confrontations. They’d finally got everything sorted, their parents had…well, not ‘come around’ exactly, but they’d pretty much accepted it. There was still some awkwardness but it wasn’t anything like how it was at that point so they figured it was the best they could hope for.

 

 Alec had been kinda worried about his youngest brother, living there just with their parents, without any kind of buffer. Not that Max was ‘obvious’, but Alec kinda had a feeling Max was a lot more like his older siblings than their parents would probably prefer. They never said anything to him (All three of them had checked with Max on that) but as he got older they started to get kinda twitchy and awkward whenever he seemed a bit closer than normal with any guys…

 

Like with Isaac and Kasey.

 

But Max never really paid it any mind. He was a smart kid, he knew his parents weren’t exactly comfortable with his older siblings ‘choices’ as they would say, but most of the time he just feigned obliviousness to it…

 

One time about a year ago they’d got a bit  _too_  pushy about it and he’d had enough.

 

He’d flat out asked them if that was their way of asking him if he was gay.

 

They’d balked, stammered and pretty much steadfastly avoided the subject since then.

 

_Yeah…his baby brother was pretty awesome_

And he’s sure much of that confidence comes from having such supportive friends, and having them for most of his life.

 

Him and Isaac met their very first day of Kindergarten and have been practically inseparable ever since. Then around third grade Kasey moved to town and their little group was complete. By the time Middle school rolled around it was just assumed if Max was somewhere Isaac and Kasey weren’t too far away.

 

Alec knew his parents were still kinda wary about how close Max and Isaac were, but Alec knew it was never anything like that with the two (Now Isaac and Kasey? That was a  _ **whole**_  other story…Alec’s pretty sure the poor kids been crushing on Isaac since before he even knew what a crush WAS…as of yet they were still just friends-

 

Alec’s not really sure why as he’s pretty sure the feelings reciprocated, but  anytime he asks Max just huff’s, rolls his eyes and says it’s complicated in a thoroughally exasperated tone that always made Alec chuckle).

 

He kinda thought his parents hadn’t realized about Kasey…which, from their (still annoyingly stereotypical) perspective made sense. Isaac was a bit more… _umm_ …obvious. He was tall and kind of graceful, had fairly soft features, he’s curly blond hair was fairly longer, falling nearly to his shoulders, though sometimes he’d pull it back into a ponytail.

 

He usually wore jewelry, though nothing really over the top; he had a couple stud earrings or small hoop like things and usually some kind of simple necklace, and tended towards brighter colors. He also had a bit of a predilection for things with a rainbow theme or shimmery.

 

_Like he said…the boy was just a_ **_bit_ ** _obvious_

Alec actually respected that a lot…it took a hell of a lot of courage to be so comfortable with yourself- hell he’d been out for nearly a decade and he STILL wasn’t that relaxed about it.

 

For all the eye-catching-ness the boy was actually rather quiet and low key most of the time, very intelligent and observant.

 

It was a pretty unusual combination.

 

Kasey was almost completely the polar opposite of Isaac (Except for the intelligence- he was in all the same AP classes as Max and Isaac). He had dark reddish brown hair and a sprinkling of freckles over the bridge of his nose. Kasey was a few inches shorter than Isaac- though still about a good inch taller than Max who was just barely 5’5”.

 

The kid was a bright burst of energy, loud and boisterous. He had a seemingly permanent mischievous grin and was a bit of a prankster, always up to something. Kasey had a crazy imagination and was always going on about some movie or videogame or theory about this teacher or that student…

 

The kid was a riot, if a bit quirky and mischievous.

 

Add in Max a kinda shy until you got to know him bookworm with a sarcastic streak that far surpassed the usual teen level and his propensity for rambling that almost matched Simon and Alec really had no clue how the guys even managed to be  _acquaintances_.

 

None the less the boys were all but inseparable, and Alec really couldn’t be happier- he knew Max had the support he needed and he made sure the other two boys knew if they needed help with anything him, Izzy or Jace were there for them…

 

_Well, Jace would grumble but he’d still be there._

About seven years ago the station was upgrading all their equipment and Alec ended up getting a couple of the old walkie-talkies for them, making sure they were just set to communicate with each other (he really didn’t want the drama of three elementary/middle school boys broadcasting throughout the entire precinct…

 

Though it probably would have lightened up a stake out or two…)

 

The boys were totally elated

 

By now of course they all had cell phones but he knew they still used the things from time to time.

 

He thought it was sweet that t-

 

Alec’s pulled from his thoughts,  glancing up at the light tapping at the door, casting a quick glance at the clock, seeing it was just ten after four,

 

He chuckled slightly

 

_Well…they sure didn’t waste any time…_

“Come on in Max.” he called

 

 

The door sprang open Max hurrying in the other two boys close behind. Max’s steps falter slightly, before continuing, grey-hazel eyes wide, scanning Alec worriedly,

 

“A-Alec? How are you feeling? Are you okay? Izzy said you were but she wouldn’t tell me you weren’t unless it was, like REALLY bad and I know it has to be at least pretty bad otherwise you wouldn’t be in the hospital a-”

 

Alec cut him off shaking his head giving an affectionate smile,

 

“ _Woah_ , okay calm down; Izzy was right, I’m fine. I have a bit of a concussion and am kinda fuzzy about what all exactly happened, but I really am fine.”

 

The other two teens moved closer, each standing on one side of Max almost protectively, looking him over for themselves.

 

  Kasey gave a slight low whistle, shaking his head, his usual mischievous deep green eyes wide and somewhat worried,

 

“Dude, tell that to the knot on your head…” he waved his hand quickly, holding up three fingers

 

“Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?”

 

Alec tilted his head,

 

“Which one of you?”

 

Kasey sputtered, flailing slightly,

 

Alec shook his head, chuckling, holding his hands up placatingly,

 

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist…three Kasey. I’m fine really. I have a little bump and a bit of a concussion but I’ll be fine, I swear.

 

I actually feel perfectly fine right now, honest.”

 

Max swallowed nervously, shaking his head slightly, casting a quick glance over to Isaac meeting his eyes, Max’s widening faintly before turning back to Alec, somehow looking even more worried,

 

“Y-you do? You’re sure?”

 

Alec nodded

 

Isaac reached over, resting his hand on Max’s shoulder, squeezing reassuringly, tilting his head, deep brown eyes looking Alec over curiously. He shook his head again,

 

“What happened? Izzy wouldn’t tell Max anything, just that it was something about a case you were working…”

 

Alec smiled, nodding faintly,

 

“Yeah it was, but it’s alright, I don’t want to worry you with the details…I’m okay, the case is solved…well for the most part. At least the dangerous part is over and there’s no more threat, so people can relax again… now it’s just paperwork and boredom.”

 

Isaac’s dark eyes sparked, widening slightly, he tilted his head

 

“Was it the Branding murders?”

 

Alec blinked in surprise,

 

“Why w-”

 

He shrugged, giving a slight wave,

 

“Well, it’s been in the news and people have really been freaking out about it, I know there’s been all kinds of rumors going around about it-”

 

Kasey interrupted nodding quickly

 

“Yeah I heard it was some crazy vampire cult thing, freaky as heck! _Dude_ , is that the case? Is Isaac right? What am I talking about? It’s _Isaac_ ; of course he’s right…

 

So was it a crazy vampire cult type thing?”

 

Max rolled his eyes,

 

“Dude I keep telling you it wasn’t vampires…that doesn’t even make sense! It’s ‘branding murders’, not blood draining or whatever…

 

What were they doing? Labeling their food?”

 

Isaac snorted, shaking his head affectionately at the other two before turning back at Alec,

 

“So what was it? What happened? And how did you looking for a murderer with a weird tattoo fetish end up with you in the hospital with a concussion?”

 

Kasey blinked, pointing accusingly,

 

“Hey yeah! What the heck dude?”

 

Max nodded sobering faintly,

 

“Alec I know you don’t want me to freak out about it but please just tell me what happened? I’ve been worrying all night and no one will tell me anything but I know it’s something pretty bad specifically because of that.

 

You’re always honest with me and I kinda REALLY need that right now cause I’ve spent the whole night trying to figure out what could be so bad that they couldn’t tell me anything.”

 

Alec sighed, giving a faint nod,

 

“Okay…most of it will probably come out in the press soon enough anyways.” He shrugged, glancing back at Isaac before settling back on Max,

 

“Isaac was right; it was the Branding murders I was working on. The other day at one of the scenes I ran into someone who was acting suspicious…I brought him in and…I don’t know it was just really weird. I got a really strange vibe from the guy but he said he was starting a PI agency and was working the case.

 

I didn’t really believe him but Luke vouched for him and so me and Simon decided to work with this ‘Magnus Bane’ a-”

 

Alec startles at a sudden clattering sound, glancing back at Isaac, pausing, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Isaac…are you alright?”

 

He nodded quickly, eyes wide, swallowing, brushing his hair back nervously,

 

“Uh-y-yeah…yeah I’m fine…my hand just kinda slipped and caught the tray with water pitcher…sorry, it was empty at least…” he paused quickly righting the pitcher, stepping a bit away from it, blushing faintly, waving him on,

 

“Umm-k-keep going…sorry for the interruption…”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow curiously,

 

_That was odd,_

_Isaac’s never clumsy…_

 

“You sure you’re alright?”

 

Max nodded quickly, waving him off,

 

“Yeah, he’s fine, so what happened with this Magnus guy? And how does that lead to you being in the hospital?”

 

Kasey nodded quickly

 

“Yeah, was he like the killer or something? It’s kinda a weird name… ** _ooh_** _and dude!_ Bane is totally a villain name! Like literally from Batman…so, was it him?”

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head faintly.

 

“No it wasn’t him. We actually worked pretty well together the first day but then yesterday I caught him lying about something and I kinda thought that meant he was involved.”

 

Isaac tilted his head. Swallowing nervously,

 

“So was he?”

 

Alec shook his head again,

 

“No…”- he paused trailing off for a second, adding almost to himself

 

“I-I actually think he’s the one who saved my life…”

 

Max blinked worriedly,

 

“ _Wait_ …what do you mean saved your life? I think you’re missing a lot of the story.”

 

Alec nodded,

 

“Yeah, I got sidetracked…anyways, I got it in my head that he was involved and I was really angry about it…I mean we were working so well the day before, really connecting, at least I thought we were. He even kinda opened up some when Simon was working with Raphael-”

 

 _“Raphael?!”_ Isaac squeaked, voice higher than normal, eyes wide-

 

“U-umm…w-who’s Raphael?”

 

Alec tilted his head curiously,

 

“Uh- he’s Magnus’s best friend, supposedly he’s going to be opening the PI agency with Magnus. Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

He nodded quickly, pushing his hair back, fidgeting slightly,

 

“Yeah…I’m fine Alec, just worried about you and kinda having trouble keeping up with it…”

 

Max nodded quickly, giving a slight shrug,

 

Yeah, I kinda kept him up most of the night trying to figure out what was going on and he was trying to talk me down but you know how that goes-”

 

“Hey I tried to help too!” Kasey interjected,

 

Max smiled rolling his eyes affectionately, Isaac laughed, shaking his head faintly,

 

“Yes you did…and I’m sure suggesting that Izzy wasn’t telling him anything because Alec had stumbled into some kind of government conspiracy and was being debriefed and/or memory wiped was very helpful…” Isaac teased

 

Max laughed shrugging,

 

“Hey it was! It made me laugh.”

 

“Alright it wasn’t THAT far out there…” he trailed off, eyes widening pointing excitedly at Alec

 

“Ooh! And he said himself he’s really fuzzy about it! Maybe that’s why!”

 

Alec shook his head chuckling, giving a slight shrug,

 

“You know what Kasey? That makes about as much sense as what I can remember…maybe you’re onto something.-”

 

Max shook his head

 

“Oh god Alec, don’t encourage it! Come on, you know better than that…”

 

“You’re right, sorry…” he chuckled,

 

Kasey huffed fake glaring at Max who just laughed,

 

“Oh don’t give me that look…don’t make me remind you about the ‘haunted supply closet’…”

 

Kasey flushed,

 

“You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”

 

Max quirked his eyebrow

 

“Dude you _insisted_ it was haunted and talked me into setting up a camera…only to find out it’s where people would go to make out…including two teachers who I SO did not want to see like that, like ever…”

 

He huffed,

 

“It wasn’t that b-”

 

“Yes it was.” Both Isaac and Max said in perfect sync.

 

Kasey tried to argue but then just shook his head,

 

“Yeah…you’re right, that was bad…b-”

 

“Anyways…” Max cut him off before he could get started, giving him a slightly apologetic look before turning back to Alec,

 

“What does this Magnus have to do with the case and what do you mean he saved your life? What happened to where your life needed to be saved?”

 

“Oh right! Yeah Alec, what’s up with that?” Kasey asked, Isaac nodding looking him over in concern,

 

Alec sighed, shaking his head faintly,

 

“Okay…so like I said I got mad when I caught Magnus in a lie and I kind of yelled at him about it…and then at Simon when he tried to smooth things over cause it just seemed like everyone was siding with the guy over me and I couldn’t get a straight answer about him.

 

I ended up leaving the precinct to investigate on my own. While I was out I got a call from someone saying they had info on Magnus.”

 

Isaac shook his head,

 

“Dude…no way.”

 

Alec sighed,

 

“I know it was so obviously a trap after the fact, but I was just so mad and wanted answers so bad that I jumped at it. The tip was fake, the guy didn’t even know Magnus’s name…umm…” he trailed off, tilting his head, looking back at Max,

 

“Max I know you want the truth but I don’t want you to be really freaked out…”

 

He took a deep breath nodding,

 

“Alec like you said it’ll come out in the news soon enough, I’d rather know the facts then whatever they say. I’m sure it was bad and scary…I mean you’re in the hospital with a concussion…

 

I kinda doubt everything went smoothly and you just fell down the stairs while celebrating a job well done. You’re here, safe and alive and joking…I know it turned out okay…

 

So what happened that Izzy was too worried to tell me?”

 

Alec sighed,

 

“Alright, well, it was a trap. The guy who called me was the one behind the Branding murders, and like I said, even I don’t remember all of it, it’s kinda jumbled…I have a concussion and there’s a definite possibility I was dosed with something.

 

A-anyways, I know at one point I woke up in a room with hundreds of symbols like on the victims in the case. I was tied to a chair inside a hexagram and the guy who had called me was ranting about monsters and angels and how to get rid of the monsters. I guess he thought he found a way using a sacrifice to some demon…who he decided had to be me……” Alec trailed off, shaking his head,

 

All three of the boys gasped, wide eyed,

 

Alec shrugged,

 

“After that I really have no clue what’s real, it’s all a jumbled mess…I think what I remember is mainly my dreams…

 

I remember Magnus showing up, that seems **_really_** clear…but even that I don’t know for sure…Izzy said Simon and Raphael are the ones who brought me to the hospital and Magnus never mentioned being there when he called later to check on me…so I really don’t know.

 

I’d been looking for answers about him…had spent the entire day before with him…was really thinking that mayb- _umm_ … h-he was just really on my mind a lot…it’s entirely possible I just dreamt he was there…

 

I remember some kind of a fight that was really quick and dizzying and didn’t really make a lot of sense…

 

I-I think I remember Magnus being thrown into the wall next to me…and looking at me…b-but it was different…

 

His eyes were different…

 

But that had to be a dream…it had to be.

 

I mean…people don’t just suddenly randomly have shimmering golden cat eyes…”

 

Kasey gave a slight laugh, nodding

 

“Yeah, that’s kinda out there….even for me.”

 

Isaac gave a slightly loud laugh, nodding a bit too quick,

 

“Yeah…that is pretty farfetched…” Max nodded in agreement,

 

“So then what happened?”

 

Alec shrugged,

 

“Then I’m not sure…I think I must’ve passed out or blacked out or something cause the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with Izzy next to me…”

 

Kasey gave a low whistle; Max shook his head, eyes wide,

 

“Man, now wonder Iz wouldn’t tell me anything…no way I’d of gone to school if I’d known you’d came like half a step away from being sacrificed to a demon.”

 

Kasey nodded quickly,

 

“Uh yeah…that’s actually freakier than the whole crazy Vampire cult thing…”

 

Isaac shook his head

 

Man, no kidding…” he muttered in disbelief, before shaking it off, giving Alec a relieved smile,

 

“Well…that all sounds totally crazy, but whatever happened at least you got out safely, that’s all that matters.”

 

Alec gave a slight nod, echoed by Max and Kasey,

 

“That’s for sure…” he sighed, before shaking his head,

 

“I really am sorry you were so worried Max, I really wish we could have told you more but, just…”

 

“It was WAY too complicated to explain on the phone, I get it…

 

But you really do feel okay today?”

 

Alec sighed, nodding,

 

“Yeah I actually feel pretty much back to normal. I had a bit of a headache last night and they had to give me some medicine for the start of a migraine but honestly this morning I felt a lot better. The doctor was in earlier, he’s actually pretty happy with how well I’m doing, said they’d probably keep me for tonight just to be absolutely sure I didn’t have any delayed reaction just in case I was dosed with something but it’s really just a precaution, I’ll be out first thing tomorrow morning.”

 

Max gave a relived sigh, moving forward, hugging him,

 

“Well I’m really glad to hear that.”

 

Alec nodded, squeezing his shoulder tightly,

 

“Sorry for worrying you buddy.”

 

“It’s okay…just…you know, next time you get a _glaringly_ fishy call from some shady creep…maybe take some back up? Or, you know just send someone to arrest them?”

 

Alec chuckled, nodding once more,

 

“Deal…So, how was school? You’re test go okay?”

 

Max nodded,

 

“Yeah, think I did pretty good….and school was good. We had a pep rally and Bobbi thought that Clint and Wesley were gonna…”

 

Alec sighed, settling back, listening to the never ending soap opera that was Suncrest High…

 

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#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

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**_ (Max) _ **

**__ **

“Oh damnit! Hey Kasey? Can we make a quick stop; I forgot I told my mom I’d pick up her blood pressure medicine at the pharmacy…sorry, it won’t take too long, it’s just up here.” Isaac asked apologetically, pointing over to the storefront.

 

Kasey nodded quickly, flashing him a quick smile,

 

“Yeah of course…” he glanced along the street

 

“Huh…I don’t see a parking spot…I can let you out and just go around the block, if that’s alright?”

 

Isaac gave him a relieved smile,

 

“Thanks, you’re awesome.”

 

Kasey flushed, giving a slight shrug,

 

“No problem.”

 

Max leaned forward,

 

“Oh remember? We need more peroxide and chalk for the project in Science class…maybe I should run in with you and I can grab it while you’re picking that up, save us a trip?”

 

Kasey nodded at the other two,

 

“Alright no problem, it’ll take me about fifteen to twenty minutes to get around the block…when I’m almost back around I’ll text and see if you guys are ready, or if I happen to spot a parking place not super far away…”

 

They both nod as he slows to a stop, hopping out quickly making their way up on the sidewalk.

 

Isaac smiled,

 

“Thanks Kasey, I really do appreciate it. We should absolutely be done by then…thanks again.”

 

He waved him off, giving a bit of a laugh, cheeks still a bit pink,

 

“It’s really no problem Isaac, glad I can help.”

 

Isaac gave him one more smile, and a slight wave as he pulled back out into traffic, watching the car for a minute turning back around beginning towards the storefront before moving to the side, ducking into the alleyway next to it, turning back to Max, eyes wide,

 

“ _Dude_ , what the hell is your brother doing working with the freaking High Warlock Of Brooklyn!?”

 

Max shook his head quickly,

 

 _“I don’t know!_  Why is the ‘High Warlock Of Brooklyn pretending to open a PI firm…and who is this Raphael guy? You sounded just as freaked about his name as Magnus’s but it doesn’t ring a bell…”

 

Isaac sighed leaning against the wall, rubbing at his face,

 

“Raphael Santiago is the head of the Brooklyn Vampire Clan…one of the most feared Vamps in the country…NOT a guy you should mess with…

 

Not that Magnus IS…

 

Oh man, Alec has really stepped in it.

 

He’s lucky he just ended up with a bit of memory spell-”

 

Max huffed, leaning against the wall next to him,

 

“Well compared to the fact that he **_could_** have been sacrificed to some demon in an effort to rid the world of Supernaturals a tiny bit of a spell doesn’t seem so bad.”

 

Isaac scoffed nodding,

 

“Dude…this is insane, Alec needs to be really careful…Magnus Bane and Raphael Santiago are easily the two most feared, powerful Supernaturals in the city…

 

If he goes snooping around asking questions? I mean neither of them are said to be, like maniacs who go about smiting people who piss them off or whatever but Magnus is the most powerful warlock I have ever heard of…

 

It seems really weird he left so many of the memories…

 

Especially of his eyes…

 

That just seems really suspicious.

 

Why he would remember a warlocks demon marks specifically. It’s _Magnus Bane_ ; it’s not like he just screwed up the spell, there has to be more to it than that.”

 

Max faltered a bit, looking over at the other boy worriedly,

 

“D-did Alec seem okay though? I know there was a bit of a spell but I mean…it didn’t seem like he was, like…losing it or whatever, r-right?”

 

Isaac shook his head, waving him off,

 

“No, he’s okay…he’s pretty convinced the crazier stuff is a dream or part of the concussion…he’s fine.

 

At least for now…don’t know how long it’ll stay like that if he’s running around with the High Warlock Of Brooklyn...”

 

Max nodded,

 

“Especially if he’s interested in the dude…”

 

Isaac startled a bit at that,

 

“What? You think?”

 

“Oh yeah…the way he’d talked about him he’s totally into him…like big time.”

 

Isaac groaned,

 

Ah crap…dude you know I love Alec like the brother I wish I had…but _seriously?_ An entire city of humans and Supernaturals and he has to go for the single most terrifyingly dangerous one in existence?

 

And it’s not even like Alec’s the type to go for like, dangerous, bad boy types…he’s like a freaking boy scout!

 

What could he possibly see in…well I guess I can guess what he _sees_ …

 

I know the guys supposed to be like, crazy hot but…

 

 ** _Dude_** …”

 

Max flailed slightly,

 

“I know! What are we gonna do?”

 

Isaac scoffed,

 

“I don’t think there IS anything we can do. M-maybe it was just this one case? It sounds like a pretty big thing- had to be to catch Magnus’s eye…

 

Maybe he was just working with Alec for an in for the case?

 

Maybe it’s done now?”

 

Max shrugged, shaking his head,

 

“I don’t know dude…how did Alec even manage to arrest this guy? If he’s as powerful as you’ve heard then he could have got out of this in a snap.

 

Why LET himself be arrested?”

 

It was Isaac’s turn to shrug,

 

“I don’t know…Alec IS pretty hot…maybe Magnus thought it’d be fun?”

 

Max shuddered,

 

“Ugh…dude please don’t say that about my brother. Like ever…”

 

Isaac rolled his eyes,

 

“Sorry but it’s the truth…and I think I heard somewhere Magnus is bi…it’s the only reason I can think of for a normal human detective to actually be able to apprehend one of the most powerful supernatural’s in existence. Also why he would actually bother calling to check up on him…He doesn’t exactly have a rep for being warm and cuddly. ”

 

Max shook his head,

 

“Still..ugh…

 

So what do we do?”

 

Isaac’s eyes widened,

 

“I don’t know! Pretty much just hope he loses interest and moves on…that’s the only thing I can think of…

 

I mean, I’m pretty powerful for my age and all that but, _dude_ ,this is Magnus FREAKING Bane…

 

My powers are nothing compared to his…

 

And that’s just the ones I _know_ about. No one really knows all of his abilities…they just know you don’t screw with him and you do NOT piss him off…

 

Pretty sure trying to interfere in his love life would count as both. And it’s not like we could really warn Alec- not without the whole supernatural reveal possible mind warping thing…” he trailed off, shaking his head,

 

“Our only move is to just hope he gets bored and moves on. Other than that I c-”

 

He’s cut off by his phone blipping with a text.

 

He sighs,

 

“Alright Kasey’s almost back. I don’t know what to tell you Max…this is insane and I know usually we can totally handle the whole supernatural insanity thing, but this is WAY above my level.

 

We’ll just have to keep an eye out and hope it works out.” he shrugged again, spotting Kasey’s car turning onto the street, beginning out, Max caught his arm…

 

“Uh dude?” he quirked his eyebrow,

 

“Huh? Oh! right, sorry, a bit distracted…” he flickered his fingers, a shimmering prismatic light appearing, a small white Rx bag materializing in his hand, before gesturing over towards Max, a plastic bag appearing as well.

 

Max held it up, looking in quirking his eyebrow,

 

Isaac shrugged,

 

“What?”

 

“Really Kasey’s favorite cinnamon candies?”

 

He blushed faintly,

 

“Well, he likes them…and we did kinda ditch him…I’m just being nice…”

 

Max rolled his eyes,

 

“Why don’t you just make a move?”

 

Isaac huffed,

 

“I told you it’s just not that easy…”

 

Max gave a slight scoffing laugh, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Apparently it is for the High Warlock Of Brooklyn.”

 

Isaac scoffed right back,

 

“Hey, The High Warlock Of Brooklyn is hundreds of years old and one of the most powerful Supernaturals in existence…

 

He can do whatever the hell he wants, no one’s gonna be stupid enough to call him out on it.

 

I’m a sixteen year old fairy stupidly crushing on an annoyingly cute human goofball who’s obsessed with monster movies and crazy theories…

 

There’s a slight difference.”

 

Max huffed, rolling his eyes, shaking his head,

 

“Yeah…the difference being Magnus isn’t too chicken to make a move…”

 

Isaac sighed,

 

“No…the difference is Magnus probably doesn’t really care about the fact that he couldn’t be honest…he’s probably used to it.

 

It’s bad enough I have to lie to one of my best friends…

 

I really don’t think I could handle lying to my boyfriend about what I am. And I know it worked out with you but that was a complete accident…

 

If Kasey found out and it messed him up…

 

I really wouldn’t be able to forgive myself…I just couldn’t….”

 

He shrugged, moving towards the sidewalk,

 

Max sighed, squeezing his shoulder,

 

“I know…it’s complicated.”

 

Isaac huffed, nodding, giving a slight wave as the car approached,

 

Kasey gave a beaming smile waving back,

 

“Yup…annoyingly so.”

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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_Who the hell was knocking on his door at this hour?_

Okay so for most people one in the afternoon isn’t a crazy time for visitors but for a Vampire that’s like the middle of the night…

 

_Maybe if he ignored it they’d go away a-_

 

There was the knock again,

 

Raphael groaned, stretching, tossing the covers back, padding across the floor,

 

_This better be important._

He stretched again, yawning loudly, tilting his head, pausing when he caught the heartbeat…

 

Huh…

 

It wasn’t one he recognized, and there was something just a bit odd about it…it was quick and nervous (So at least whoever it was knew it was a stupid idea to knock on a Vamps door at 1pm…or they just knew who he was…whatever he could work with both), but over that there was a wave of determination. They were trying to keep calm, hide their nerves…

 

It was cute they thought it’d work…

 

He reached the door, the little oddity in the heartbeat finally registering…

 

Oh…his visitor was some kind of shifter…that’s why it sounded just a bit off, some have a slightly different rhythm then humans, not something that a human could really register, even a medical professional, but Vamps could pick it up.

 

_Huh…why on earth would a random shifter he’d never met be coming by his place at what amounts to the Vampire middle of the night?_

 

_Okay…gotta admit, now he’s less annoyed and more curious…_

He reached over, unlocking the door and opening it,

 

“Ye-” he began but trails off when the visitor quickly stepped around him and into the apartment,

 

_What the hell?_

He blinked a couple times not entirely sure what was going on, before turning to face the apparent intruder,

 

The guy blinked a couple times in surprise himself, blushing faintly, before kinda glancing away

 

“Umm…c-can you like put on a shirt dude? This is kinda awkward enough without all of…well… _that_ ” he gestured erratically indicating Raphael’s bare chest and arms, cheeks blushing brightly,

 

It was now Raphael’s turn to blink uncomprehendingly,

 

_Oookay…what he spelled? Drunk?_

_Spelled AND Drunk?_

_Why was there a random blushing, flustered deer-man bursting into his apartment demanding he put on a shirt?_

He looked over the man for some kind of clue as to what the hell was up,

 

He was about an inch taller than Raphael, had a rich golden skintone with curly black hair and very deep bluish green doe eyes…

 

His vaguely elfin ears twitched nervously and Raphael could just make out two short light brown horns above the riotous curls a-...

 

_Hey wait…_

_That sounded familiar…_

He tilted his head curiously quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Kevin?”

 

He blinked, swallowing nervously nodding,

 

“Y-Yeah…guess Si told you about me.”

 

Raphael startled,

 

“ _Wait_ , did something happen? Is Simon okay?”

 

Kevin seemed surprised by the reaction, seemingly relaxing minutely shaking his head,

 

“No, he’s fine…he’s back home taking a nap, figured he needed it after last night…and I guess that’s a no on the shirt thing?”

 

Raphael was back to being confused,

 

_If there was nothing wrong why was Simon’s best friend standing in his living room once again demanding he put on a shirt?_

He figured he’d just roll with it till he figured out what was going on,

 

Besides the dude DID barge into his apartment at what’s essentially the middle of the night, it wouldn’t hurt to mess with the guy just a tiny bit.

 

He shrugged, relaxing, leaning casually against the door,

 

“Eh, I’m not really shy…and as from my perspective it’s the middle of the night I don’t really feel the need to dress up for random intruders.”

 

Kevin seemed to falter momentarily, looking confused, before his eyes widened,

 

“Oh crap! Vampire…sorry, totally missed the whole middle of the night thing…it didn’t even occur to me, but it doesn’t matter, that’s not why I’m here.”

 

Raphael tilted his head,

 

“So…why are you pushing your way into my home in the middle of the night? I would assume it’s important?”

 

He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, nodding quickly,

 

“It is.”

 

_Huh…the little deer-guy was braver than he looked…_

Raphael respected that,

 

Now he really was curious,

 

“Okay…I’m listening.” He gestured for him to continue,

 

Kevin took a deep breath,

 

“What are you doing with Simon?”

 

_Huh?_

Raphael tilted his head, shaking it faintly,

 

“I don’t really know what you mean…”

 

Kevin huffed,

 

“Umm, yeah you do! What are you doing with Simon? Are you just messing with him? Is this some kinda game or trick or whatever?

 

Cause if it is you need to stop.” He said firmly, crossing his arms looking him over glaring,

 

_Oh my god…_

_He was getting a shovel talk from a freaking deer-man who looked like the human equivalent of Bambi…_

Raphael cleared his throat, coughing slightly, trying to tramp down the laugh threatening to come out,

 

Kevin caught it, glaring angrily, huffing, seemingly just barely stopping himself from tapping his foot…

 

It REALLY did not help…

 

Raphael glanced away, rubbing at his face trying to hide the smile,

 

He huffed again,

 

“Damnit! This isn’t a joke! I know it might seem like it okay? I know someone like me coming to you like this probably just seems ridiculous or crazy or whatever else but I don’t care.

 

Simon is my best friend, my family. I love him and I won’t let anyone hurt him…even an annoyingly attractive, scary vampire with an apparent aversion to shirts!

 

I don’t know what the hell you’re up to but if you’re just messing with him it needs to stop. Now.” He paused, shaking his head, sighing, deflating a little,

 

Raphael looked up, his expression softening,

 

“L-look…I know all about Gwir-dysts okay? I know how horrible they are, and I know we’re pretty much just supposed to hate them…

 

But Simon isn’t like that, I swear he’s not. He’s the kindest, sweetest most selfless person I’ve ever met.

 

He’s been my best friend for almost as long as I can remember.

 

I know WHAT he is…but that’s not WHO he is. And I’m sure most Supernaturals who found out what he was would just think it’s some kind of act or con or whatever but it’s not…it’s really not…

 

Not unless he’s been acting for nearly twenty years. He hated what his parents were like…even before he found out about the whole supernatural thing, when he just thought they were bigots…he’s the most accepting, compassionate person you could ever meet.

 

He gave up everything to protect us in high school…

 

There were easily over a hundred Supernaturals planning to go to that party…he saved every last one of our lives, and who knows how many more after that from the fallout.

 

He risked his life, wore a wire to trap his own parents.

 

It’s not a game, or a con, or an act or whatever else…it’s just Simon. 

 

What you see with him is what you get.” He paused, taking a step closer, meeting Raphael’s eyes,

 

“S-so, I know this probably seems ridiculous to you…like some big joke, but Simon is my family. And I know you’re dangerous and I’m really nothing compared to you…

 

But I don’t care.

 

If you’re just messing with Simon you need to back off…he doesn’t deserve that, and I won’t just sit by while some hissing, showy, threatening, overhyped vamp, breaks the heart of the sweetest person I’ve ever met.

 

I won’t.”

 

Raphael sighed, giving him a soft smile, nodding his head faintly,

 

“I totally agree.”

 

Kevin startled, blinking,

 

“Huh?”

 

Raphael chuckled, shrugging,

 

“I’m pretty sure Simon is one of the best people I have ever met. He’s unbelievably sweet, kind, compassionate, selfless and bordering on stupidly brave…

 

He’s amazing…I know what he is, but you are right…that is in no way who he is.” He smiled softly, shaking his head, before glancing back up, meeting Kevin’s eyes,

 

“It’s not an act with me either. I like him, that’s why I asked him out…that is the only reason I asked him out.

 

I know the idea of A Vampire clan leader and a Gwir-dyst dating is just so far beyond insane it’s not even funny…but…

 

I don’t know…

 

I think Simon’s worth it.” he trailed off, not really sure what else to say,

 

Kevin tilted his head, giving a soft smile of his own,

 

“He really is.” He paused, nodding quickly,

 

“Okay…so we’re on the same page…and I should go, I just told Si I was running a few errands, and I should be home around two so I should probably get going…

 

Sorry again for waking you up, but it really was important.” He moved back towards the door, kinda hesitating, not really sure what to do as Raphael was still leaning against it,

 

Raphael chuckled, reaching over, opening the door for him.

 

“Well, it was interesting meeting you Kevin…I did tell Simon I wanted to…though gotta admit this was not what I had in mind.”

 

He gave a quick laugh, eyes wide,

 

“Uh, same here dude…Definitely didn’t think I’d be barging into a vampire nest to vaguely threaten a vampire clan leader…

 

Which…thanks for not being super threatening and scary. Guess Simon’s right, there is a lot more to you.” he grinned, before hesitating a second,

 

“S-so…you really _do_ like him? You’re not just messing with him? It’s just…he was SO happy and bubbly when he got home today and I know it’d crush him if it was all some kind of joke…

 

I just really couldn’t stand to see him hurt like that.”

 

Raphael smiled, leaning against the door, nodding faintly,

 

“Yeah…I really do…I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him.”

 

Kevin laughed, nodding,

 

“Si really is one of a kind.”

 

“Quite true.”

 

Kevin gave a relived nod,

 

“Good…then you have nothing to worry about.” He said reassuringly with a bright smile, and a slightly geeky wave,

 

“Have a good day-er…night…whatever…

 

Have a good one Raphael.” He finished, turning making his way towards the elevator,

 

“Y-you too Kevin.” He called, quickly closing the door.

 

“Oh mi Dios…” he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief, before bursting into near uncontrollable laugher, leaning against the door for support,

 

Alright he’s had a lot of crazy conversations in his lifetime (his best friend IS Magnus after all) but a shovel talk from a pissed off Bambi is easily one of the craziest yet…

 

_Even crazier…_

_It was actually pretty effective…_

He laughed again, shaking his head making his way back into his room, halfway wondering if this whole that was some bizarre dream.

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you all think of Max and his friends? I know I said most of these should only have 2 parts but I had to have something from Max…
> 
> And Maybe Alec should have been kinda suspicious of Isaac’s behavior but you don’t really think a random teenager is gonna actually know anything about a club owner/possible criminal…
> 
> I’ve been looking forward to Kevin’s shovel talk since before I even STARTED this story…
> 
> I love him so much
> 
> **_Age of the Characters:_ **
> 
> _(Thought this might be helpful)_
> 
> Magnus- 865
> 
> Raphael- 148 (Unless you ask Simon, than 23)
> 
> Alec- 34
> 
> Izzy and Jace- 30
> 
> Clary-25
> 
> Max-16
> 
> So…what do you all think so far?


	9. Some Semblance Of The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> ##  _ Chapter Complete!! _
> 
>  
> 
> _Simon comes to visit Alec in the hospital,_
> 
> _And Magnus and Raphael get together to discuss the events of the night before._

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#  _ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _

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Alec startles from his dozing, head snapping up, blinking a bit at the hesitant wrapping on the door, glancing over curiously,

 

“Hey Ale-oh…umm, sorry, were you sleeping? I can come back…I should have called first b-”

 

Alec smiled, shaking his head, sitting up a bit more, waving Simon in,

 

“It’s fine Simon, I’ve been dozing all day…they said it’s to be expected with everything, please come in.”

 

Simon seemed to hesitate for a moment, not really sure what to do, before nodding  moving closer to the bed, fidgeting slightly, looking him over in concern, gulping when his eyes landed on the bump on his temple, widening slightly,

 

“Man…it looks way worse than last night-er…umm…sorry I mean-”

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head,

 

“I know, but I swear it looks worse than it feels…it doesn’t even hurt today- though adding your reaction to that of Clary, Max and his friends I may end up breaking down and asking Izzy to try her makeup on me to cover it.”

 

Simon gave a surprised laugh, relaxing a bit, nodding, moving a bit closer,

 

“I’m sure she’d love it…though you may have to stress JUST cover up- otherwise who knows what all you’ll end up with.

 

I mean I’m sure you could totally pull it off, but I don’t think it’s really you.”

 

He laughed, nodding back,

 

“Good point…” he trailed off sobering, giving a slight sigh, looking back up, meeting Simon’s eyes,

 

“Simon, I know I said it in my message, and thank god you actually listened to it, otherwise I wouldn’t be here now- but I really do owe you an apology in person-”

 

Simon shook his head quickly,

 

“Alec it’s oka-”

 

“No it’s not. I was WAY out of line and I really am sorry I blew up at you like that. You are one of the most loyal, trustworthy people I have ever met and one of my closest friends, the way I acted was totally uncalled for.”

 

Simon blushed faintly, giving a slight shrug,

 

“I know you are, but I understand, I do, and I know why you thought that. I’m sorry that it seemed like I was siding with Magnus, I just wanted us all to get along and work together to solve the case.

 

That’s all.

 

You’re my partner; I _always_ have your back.”

 

Alec smiled, nodding,

 

“I know that Simon, but it’s still really good to hear.” He paused, shaking his head faintly,

 

“I really can’t believe I let Magnus lying get me so twisted up that I actually doubted you **_and_** walked right into a glaringly obvious trap…I-I just…

 

I don’t know. I really thought Magnus and I were working well together, that…that maybe I’d been wrong about him…

 

That maybe there was something there,

 

And finding out he was lying just totally threw that out the window, you know?” he paused, shaking his head,

 

Simon sighed, giving a faint shrug,

 

“Yeah…I get that…” he trailed off seemingly about to say something else but hesitating,

 

Alec tilted his head,

 

“What?”

 

He sighed again, fidgeting slightly,

 

“O-okay, so I don’t want it to seem like I’m siding with Magnus cause, that turned out REALLY crappy last time but…umm…I don’t think you were wrong… _or_ you were right-er umm…” he huffed, rolling his eyes at himself,

 

“Kay, let’s try this again…

 

I know that Magnus lied, and I have no idea why, but I really think that under all of it he is a good person…

 

An odd, completely out there, _weirdly_ intimidating one…

 

But a good person none the less.

 

I don’t know why he lied, but I don’t think it was just for the hell of it. Up till that point we were working really well, you two especially. I know what you were thinking, and I think he was feeling the same thing…

 

I mean…come on;

 

You went three extra blocks out of your way to his favorite coffee place to make sure you got him the right drink.

 

It’s kinda obvious you’re into him, and it’s not like the dude is subtle…like, at all…in absolutely any way whatsoever.

 

I know the reason you got so angry was because you thought him lying automatically meant you couldn’t trust him period…

 

But…Well…I-I just really don’t think that’s the case.”

 

Alec sighed, shaking his head faintly,

 

“But h-”

 

“Lied…I know. But Alec, we’re detectives; we know that things aren’t usually all black and white. He lied once…

 

You said it yourself; he’s definitely into something that’s not entirely lawful and probably dangerous…

 

Hell, given the right circumstances HE’S probably dangerous…

 

But…I don’t think that’s all there is to it,

 

Not even close.

 

 I mean he was helping us…had for an entire day, and he didn’t have to. Luke vouched for him, we had nothing on him, he was in the clear.

 

He chose to help us, I think mainly because he wanted an excuse to spend more time with you, but he did none the less.

 

 He found things that we had flat out missed, that every professional on the case missed…

 

Yeah he lied, but I think he only did because he genuinely felt he had no other choice.”

 

Alec shook his head in confusion

 

“I…I get what you’re saying but why would that be the only choice? Why couldn’t he just tell me the truth?”

 

Simon shrugged,

 

I don’t know;

 

Maybe how he recognized the symbols was connected to something really complicated or confusing or just too plain crazy to explain- got a feeling the guy has a LOT of those kinda stories…

 

O-or maybe he thought knowing about it would be dangerous for you, or telling you would be dangerous for him, o-or any number of other things…

 

I really don’t know and, honestly, trying to figure out a secret of Magnus’s…I just don’t think I have enough imagination to come up with all the possible crazy answers- and this is ME we’re talking about.

 

But he’s smart enough to realize lying would piss you off and to continue lying after you called him out on it he had to think the secret was worth torpedoing his shot with you…

 

I really don’t think that’s something he’d just casually toss away.”

 

Alec blushed, rubbing at his neck, glancing away, thinking back to the day they’d worked together and back to their first meeting.

 

Simon did seem to have a point; Magnus was pretty focused on him, if it was just a simple little thing, or something kinda embarrassing (If the man was even capable of processing embarrassment) then he’d of probably came clean when Alec called him out.

 

Yeah, he was stubborn, but the way he’d dug in didn’t just seem like arrogance or pigheadedness.

 

He’d went rigid, nearly cold, eyes hard and determined (Actually looking back it was sexy as hell and kinda thrilling, but that was beside the point.)

 

It wasn’t that he just didn’t want to tell Alec…he truly felt he _couldn’t_.

 

Alec didn’t know why Magnus was so sure he couldn’t tell him, but looking back he could see the hint of regret in his eyes.

 

The man truly felt he had no other choice.

 

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, the scenes from the night swirling, flickering through his mind,

 

Magnus bursting in, strong and determined,

 

The powerful, electric something that seemed to fill the room, simultaneously completely overwhelming and totally enthralling…

 

That thing that took his breath away, leaving his skin buzzing and heart racing…

 

The glimpse of those gorgeous, flickering, shimmering ethereal golden eyes…

 

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the bizarre fantasies,

 

He sighed, looking back at Simon.

 

“You’re right.”

 

Simon froze, blinking,

 

“Y-what?”

 

He shook his head, giving a faint shrug,

 

“I…okay, so honestly pretty much from the time I arrived at the building on everything seems kinda a jumbled mess. I really don’t know what’s real or a dream or hallucination or whatever else…

 

b-but…I…the one thing that seems real, more so than anything else…that keeps popping into my head, that just seems SO clear and real and true…

 

Is Magnus.”

 

Simon startled faintly

 

“W-what? What do you mean?”

 

He tilted his head,

 

“I don’t know, I just…I just have this unshakable feeling that Magnus is the one who saved my life.” He paused, glancing up curiously,

 

“Izzy said you and Raphael are the ones who brought me to the hospital, what happened?”

 

Simon sighed, biting his lip faintly, shaking his head, looking back up apologetically,

 

“I…honestly I don’t know.

 

When I got there Raphael was almost down the stairs with you...h-” he trailed off, swallowing, taking a shuttering breath,

 

“I…he’d stopped at the second floor landing, y-you were against the wall…I…god Alec I-I really thought you were dead…that we were too late…

 

I totally panicked, Raphael told me that he thought you were just unconscious but…but I didn’t know, I didn’t ask any questions, I didn’t care whatever else was going on, I just wanted to get you to safety, get you to a hospital to get checked out…

 

I know I should have kept a cool head, checked the building or asked for an update or whatever but…I just couldn’t get the sight of you slumped against the wall out of my mind, I had to know that you were okay…

 

I had to.” He finished with a slight shrug, voice a near whisper

 

Alec reached over, resting his hand on Simon’s arm, squeezing gently. Simon looked up, meeting his gaze,

 

“Simon I understand. Situation reversed I’d of probably done the exact same thing.”

 

“R-really?”

 

He nodded,

 

“Yeah, you’re my partner, if you were hurt, that would be my first priority…it just would. Thank you for coming after me even after I yelled at you. I’m glad you decided to listen to my message…

 

I hate to think what would have happened if you didn’t.”

 

Simon’s eyes widened,

 

“And dude I so wasn’t ignoring you, I’d never do that…I’d just forgot to turn my phone back on when we left Izzy’s.” he paused shaking his head,

 

“Man, when I got your message and saw that it came in over an hour earlier…Oh man, I totally freaked, it was just so obviously a trap I mean you fight with Magnus and not twenty minutes later get a call with info on him? Seriously huge red flag. I didn’t know what the hell to do. I was at the station and it’s almost a thirty minute drive and I’d already lost over an hour, and we just didn’t have time to, like mobilize a task force or whatever and I know that’s probably what should have happened cause every cop in the city is gunning for this dude but, god that would have just added even MORE time that you didn’t have.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“Wow, yeah, I know I don’t remember much but everything I feel about it says it was really close…I think like minutes to spare-

 

I know at one point I woke up tied to a chair in the middle of a hexagram and the floor was totally covered with those symbols…

 

I remember the guy ranting and raving about monsters and angels…a-and I remember a knife…

 

A really weird, black knife…

 

I was trying to keep the guy talking, hoping I could buy myself some time or talk some sense into him b-but…I don’t think it was working…at least not well enough…I really think a few minutes more and I’d of been done.”

 

Simon gulped, eyes wide,

 

“Damn…” he breathed,

 

Alec nodded,

 

“Yup…Thank god they got there when they did.”

 

Simon nodded quickly,

 

Alec paused, a thought just occurring to him,

 

“Huh…I wonder how they found out the location…”

 

Simon gulped again, fidgeting slightly,

 

“Umm…t-that I DO know…”

 

Alec tilted his head curiously, glancing over at him,

 

“Hmm…did Raphael tell you?”

 

“Uhh…no…I-I kind of called them…”

 

Alec blinked in confusion,

 

“What do you mean you called them?”

 

He took a deep breath,

 

“W-well…see, like I said I was back at the station and I didn’t know what to do…I knew if I called it in then they’d try to do a task force kinda thing and we just didn’t have the time for that- I needed help, I needed it then.

 

I called Magnus, told him what was going on, that you’d got a call from someone saying they had info on him and that I thought it was a trap and if it was a trap then it was probably the killer and I didn’t know what to do cause I got the call over an hour earlier and you said you’d call when you had more info and you hadn’t…

 

A-and I think I was getting really close to a panic attack cause it was really hard to breathe and I was suddenly really hot and kinda lightheaded…A-and Magnus tried to calm me down and told me that he’d figured it out and that we had time and it would be okay because the guy was trying to do some spell that had to be completed under the harvest moon once it had fully risen, which hadn’t happened yet.”

 

Alec blinked, shaking his head,

 

“S-so…you called Magnus to come get me…why?”

 

Simon flailed slightly,

 

“I don’t know, I don’t think I was really thinking clearly, he was the only person I could think of, he’d been working the case with us, someone was basically using info on him to lure you into a trap, I thought maybe he was closer to the place than me…

 

Honestly I don’t know why I did but I did and I’m sorry if you think it was stupid or out of line or whatever else, I’m sorry if you’re mad at me for going to a probable criminal for help, but I don’t care…

 

You can be pissed at me if you want…at least you’re still here to be pissed at me. That’s all that mattered to me.

 

I called him, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

 

I don’t know what all happened, like I said I just saw Raphael and you…I didn’t see anyone else, but I also didn’t stay around to find out…

 

I was just glad he was there…

 

Or they were there.

 

I was just glad to have my partner safe.” He trailed off, giving a slightly defeated shrug, glancing away, wrapping his arms around himself,

 

Alec sighed,

 

“Simon I’m not mad at you.”

 

His head popped up, eyes wide and surprised,

 

“Y-you’re not?” he asked hopefully,

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“No, I get it…I think it was kinda crazy and probably wasn’t the safest move, but…well…you’re right; I’m here, I’m safe and alive and that would not have happened if you didn’t,

 

So again, thank you…

 

And I’ll tell Raphael and Magnus the same thing.

 

I really don’t think I’d be here without all three of you, and I really am grateful for that.”

 

Simon blushed, shrugging faintly,

 

“I-I didn’t really do much…just helped you out of the building and got you to the hospital, it was really all them.” He gave a slight shrug,

 

“I know they seem kinda weird, and dangerous and…well…a whole list of other things…but I really think under all of that they really are good guys, even if it’s kinda hard to see though all the rest.”

 

Alec sighed, giving a slight bit of a nod,

 

“Well, as they saved my life I think I kind of have to give them the benefit of a doubt…I know the case is over but I really will have to find them and thank them both.”

 

Simon smiled hopefully, bouncing on his heels…

 

“Uh, well…if you don’t see him by Saturday I can pass it along to Raphael when we go on our date…”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Date?”

 

Simon blushed, nodding, giving a soft, beaming smile,

 

“Yeah…umm…a-after we dropped you off at the hospital and you were checked out I umm…I kind of went over to his place...”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh,

 

“So…while I was laid up in the hospital you were fooling around with my apparent rescuer?” he teased lightly,

 

Simon blushed, rolling his eyes, shaking his head,

 

“Nothing like that, we just talked…a-actually we talked until the sun came up…I didn’t even realize it was that long…

 

I know that probably doesn’t sound really, like romantic, but…honestly, it was one of the best nights of my life.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever just connected with someone like that, you know?”

 

Alec smiled,

 

“That’s really great Simon.” He paused,

 

“Though you know the whole him saving me isn’t gonna make a difference when I have my little talk with him.”

 

Simon quirked his eyebrow in confusion

 

“Talk?”

 

Alec nodded,

 

“Yeah…you’re my partner and one of my best friends, I don’t know anything about this guy, have to make sure his intentions are honorable after all-”

 

Simon laughed, rolling his eyes,

 

“Seriously, no. that’s not happening.”

 

Alec chuckled,

 

“Oh yes it is; you’re my partner, my whole job is to watch your back…I have to be sure about the guy.”

 

Simon scoffed, before pausing, quirking his eyebrow, getting a mischievous grin,

 

“Okay, if we’re playing that game, turnabout’s fair play…though I don’t really think I have to do too much questioning to find out Magnus’s _‘intentions’_ with you.” he finished waggling his eyebrow,

 

Alec blushed brilliantly,

 

“H-he, no…that’s not wa…”

 

_‘You’re really nice…and funny…and pretty…’ he trailed off, reaching up, tracing along Magnus’s jaw and cheek,_

_‘Hmm….god…you’re so pretty…’_

_Magnus gave a delighted laugh, leaning in, softly brushing a lingering kiss to his cheek, leaning over nuzzling against his ear,_

_‘You, my darling detective are completely ridiculous and completely intoxicating and I truly hope we can pick this up when you are sober and clearheaded._

_But for now I really must leave before this gets out of hand’_

_‘The sooner you recuperate the sooner I can continue with my devilish plan to seduce you.’ he finished with a playful, mischievous wink,_

 

Alec gasped faintly, blinking, blushing brightly,

 

Simon startled, looking him over worriedly, all traces of the humor from a moment ago gone

 

“Dude are you okay? Do I need to get the nurse? I can I j-”

 

Alec shook his head, cutting him off,

 

“No…no, I’m fine, really, j-just a memory…another dream I think…or something…really, I’m good.

 

So, tell me about your night with Raphael?”

 

Simon blinked at the sudden subject change, a bit of something flickering over his expression before he shook it off,

 

“Well, it was really great…at the end he even held my hand and walked me to the door, oh but that’s jumping, like WAY ahead…”

 

Alec smiled, nodding slightly, trying to focus on his giddy, beaming partner…

 

And NOT the fact that Magnus had apparently visited him in the hospital…

 

When he was loopy on painkillers with the concussion…

 

And he barely remembers a word he said…

 

Just mumbling about how pretty Magnus was…

 

And a soft, sweet kiss on the cheek…

 

And Magnus’s voice, soft, rich and warm right by his ear…

 

(Okay…that he most definitely remembered quite clearly…Mmm…)

 

And Magnus smiling…

 

And laughing…

 

Kinda a lot of laughing…

 

Like, a worrying amount of laughter,

 

It’s a really nice laugh but even so…

 

W-well…maybe it’s not too bad…he wasn’t angry, just laughing…

 

_Really how bad could it be?_

I mean it’s not like he tried to make a move on him o-

 

Oh crap…

 

Y-yeah…

 

He really needed to figure out what the hell he said...

 

He’ll have to just bite the bullet and ask Magnus,

 

_It’s alright…he’s an adult…and a detective…_

_He can handle this…_

_He **totally** can…_

_But if he hears anything involving ‘knight’ or ‘living fantasy’ he’s SO playing the painkillers/concussion/mystery drug card._

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#  _ Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael-Raphael _

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Magnus smiled, turning as Raphael landed agilely just outside the portal, moving to greet him.

 

“Hello darling, what a wonderful surprise! You never ask me to open a portal in the middle of the day, not that I ever mind.”

 

Raphael nodded,

 

“I know but I figured with everything yesterday we probably had quite a bit to cover and I thought if we got the recap and all that done now this evening we can deal with what I am sure is still an entire laundry list of loose ends to tie up.”

 

Magnus chuckled, giving a faint nod before faltering, looking over Raphael, eyes sparking curiously, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Hmm…and judging by the smile that you cannot keep in I’m assuming you have a bit of a recap yourself?”

 

He laughed, ducking his head, rubbing nervously at his neck

 

“Umm…can we maybe have a drink?

 

I haven’t eaten yet, I kind of called just as soon as I got up and dressed…”

 

“Oh! Of course darling…” he gave a quick flick of his wrist towards the couch, their drinks appearing beside their usual spots, hurrying over, taking his seat, looking back expectantly at Raphael, patting the seat next to him,

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head, leisurely walking over, taking his seat…

 

Magnus was practically vibrating with excitement…

 

_Raphael couldn’t resist screwing with him just a tiny bit_

He turned to him readying to speak, before pausing, clearing his throat, turning back to grab his drink, taking a long, slow sip.

 

“Hmm, this is really good tonight, a new spell?”

 

“No, same one I always use…”

 

“Huh, seems different.” he shrugs, idly inspecting the wine glass, before taking another sip,

 

“Really is quite good…”

 

Magnus huffed, but couldn’t hide a slight amused smile,

 

“I’m glad you like it darling…so…how was your evening?” he coaxed,

 

Raphael chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Well we should probably discuss the case first, should we not?

 

Why don’t you go first?”

 

He gave an irritated huff, waving expressively, sending shimmering violet sparks flickering through the air,

 

“The case was fine. Raj came back, hell didn’t rise, building’s still standing- singed but standing- met with Divya, lovely girl, I portaled me and Raj into their apartment and she attacked me with a baseball bat, I like her.

 

Luke came over, we explained everything and got the cover worked out; the killer was a disturbed chemical engineer named Rodger Young, he lost it, begin seeing monsters…tried to protect humans from the monsters, the protection killed them, he died in a chemical fire after knocking over the chemicals used in the brandings…

 

 Everything’s where it should be, all we have to do is wait for them to put it together officially…

 

Oh, also Divya’s going to be helping us out with the paranormal/supernatual PI agency…

 

Okay I’m done,

 

How was YOUR night?”

 

Raphael blinked in surprise at the info dump, before landing on the last part.

 

He quirked his eyebrow,

 

“So…you, me and a pyrokinetic/telekinetic teenage girl who attacked you with a baseball bat are going to be opening a Paranormal Private Investigation Agency?”

 

Magnus put his hands up placatingly,

 

“Okay I know how it sounds b-”

 

“I’m in.”

 

“and before you just flat out say no j- wait…what?”

 

Raphael shrugged,

 

“Well...It could be a good idea. I mean with this case it shows just how easily a supernatural issue could blow up…

 

It would be far easier if we could find the issue before it gets so out of hand and deal with it before the whole, flaming inferno, falsifying evidence, inventing factious people thing.”

 

Magnus beamed, nodding

 

“Exactly! That’s what I was telling Luke.”

 

Raphael laughed,

 

“Oh I bet he just loved that…kind of sorry I missed that part.”

 

Magnus chuckled, nodding,

 

“Yes, he was most definitely not amused. Particularly when I told him he’d have to talk to his people and get them to cover their reactions to me a bit better as we’d likely be at the precinct quite often with this.”

 

He snickered,

 

“So, lot’s of growling?”

 

“Oh yes…he was quite insistent we not use his precinct to pick up dates with his detectives…”

 

Raphael scoffed, shrugging,

 

“Well, too late for that. I have a date with one of his detectives this Saturday.”

 

Magnus startled, eyes widening

 

**_“You what!?”_ **

**_  
_** Raphael laughed, setting his drink down, turning to face him, nodding eagerly,

 

“Yeah…I asked Simon out.”

 

Magnus gave an excited noise, and a slight clap,

 

“Oh darling that’s wonderful! When? And why did you wait this long to tell me?”

 

He shrugged, brushing his hair back, unable to stop the brilliant smile,

 

“Umm…this morning…when he left my place?”

 

 _“When he what!?”_  Magnus hesitated, shaking his head faintly,

 

“Sweetheart, I know you like him but you shouldn’t feel li-”

 

Raphael waved him off, shaking his head,

 

“No, it’s nothing like that...he was really worked up after we got Alec checked in, it’d really upset him, when he first saw him he thought Alec was dead…

 

We got him checked in and checked over and everything but he was still really keyed up. I asked him over so I could make sure he was okay, and we ended up talking the entire night.” He paused, shaking his head,

 

“Mags…I think it was the best night of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that kind of a connection.” He trailed off with a soft, slightly dreamy sigh,

 

“I really think he’s one of the best people I have ever met…I can’t wait for Saturday.”

 

Magnus gave a beaming smile, reaching over, hugging him slightly,

 

“That is absolutely wonderful darling…I am so happy for you.”

 

Raphael nodded, hugging him back,

 

“Thanks Mags.”

 

Magnus pulled back, giving a faint chuckle,

 

“Though I should warn you, I do believe Alexander’s sister may have a rather intense conversation in line for you…

 

She mentioned it during hers to me regarding Alexander…

 

Fair warning I must admit she’s quite skilled at it.”

 

Raphael chuckled, nodding,

 

“Well, I already had one shovel talk regarding him…what’s one more?”

 

 

Magnus blinked in surprise,

 

“What?”

 

Raphael laughed, biting his lip, smiling brightly,

 

 “So I kind of had an unexpected visitor this afternoon.”

 

“Who?”

 

 “Kevin.”

 

Magnus blinked uncomprehendingly,

 

“Umm…I think I have to go with ‘what’ again?”

 

Raphael laughed, nodding quickly,

 

“Yeah, that was my reaction too.”

 

“Okay so…why was Kevin coming by your place to give you a shovel speech? It’s sweet that he’d be protective but you two haven’t even been on an official date yet…seems a BIT much.”

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head slightly,

 

“Actually it wasn’t. Kevin’s a supernatural, Simon was telling him about me and he’d recognized my name.

 

He came by to make sure I wasn’t just messing with Simon.”

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow,

 

“Ah…okay that makes sense, we do have a bit of a reputation. So what is he? Must be something pretty formidable to actually march right into a vampire nest to confront the clan leader.”

 

Raphael laughed, shaking his head,

 

“Umm…no. No he’s really not. Kevin’s a Ceirw-dyn…and the guy looks like a human version of Bambi.”

 

Magnus burst out laughing,

 

“ _What?_ What was he going to do?”

 

Raphael shook his head

 

“I-I really don’t know, but it was easily one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.”

 

 Magnus chuckled,

 

“Okay, I have to hear this story.”

 

Raphael nodded,

 

“Yeah…it really was something else.

 

So he knocked at the door at a bit after 1, which really ticked me off as that’s basically then middle of the night for me. I go to open the door and can hear that the heartbeat is nervous but also really determined, so I was kinda intrigued,

 

I open the door and before I could even get a word out he slips around me and into the apartment…which…”

 

“Is _quite_ unusual” Magnus laughed,

 

“Oh yes…I kind of thought he may be drunk…or spelled…or both because I couldn’t figure out why the hell some random, blushing deer-man was pushing his way into my apartment in the middle of the night demanding I put on a shirt!”

 

Magnus snickered,

 

Raphael nodded,

 

“I know…it was totally surreal, I half wondered after the fact if it was just a crazy dream.”

 

“S-so…what was his shovel speech like?”

 

Raphael laughed,

 

“Basically just him telling me if I was just messing with Simon, if it was a joke or game or whatever else I needed to back off because Simon’s his best friend and family and he I won’t let anyone hurt him…even an ‘annoyingly attractive, scary vampire with an apparent aversion to shirts’.”

 

Magnus was laughing so hard by now he could barely catch his breath, shaking his head in disbelief.

 

“S-seriously? He said that?”

 

Raphael nodded eagerly,

 

“Oh yes, word for word. And that he won’t just sit by while some ‘hissing, showy, threatening, overhyped vamp, breaks his heart.”

 

Magnus let out something far too close to a giggle, blinking in surprise,

 

“A-are you SURE he wasn’t drunk?”

 

Raphael laughed,

 

“No…he was sober…he’s just protective of the people he loves;

 

I mean, I’d do the same thing if I thought someone was screwing with you, and you would as well if the situation was reversed.”

 

Magnus gave a quick sharp laugh,

 

“True, but I doubt anyone would ever call our ‘intimidation’ threatening techniques ‘the cutest thing they ever saw’.”

 

Raphael shrugged,

 

“I don’t know… think I remember Kai saying that a few times…the one time when I hissed at him he actually giggled and pinched my cheek.”

 

Magnus chuckled, holding up a finger,

 

“Okay…so no one who isn’t a mind numbingly powerful and deadly ancient Fae from a sealed off hell realm would say that.”

 

Raphael tilted his head in acknowledgement, shaking his head faintly,

 

“I know it seems absurd, but it was unbelievably charming. The guy was less then no threat to me, and he knew that damn good and well, but even knowing who I am, and all the rumors surrounding me taking over the clan and all of that, he was willing to march right into a nest of vampires and barge into my home just to be sure his best friend wasn’t going to be hurt.

 

I can’t help but be impressed.”

 

Magnus gave a considering nod

 

“I must admit, I am too. And I am glad it seems you and Simon’s best friend will get along, that is quite important, animosity between loved ones and lovers really is a difficult thing to maneuver,

 

Good to know you won’t have trouble with it.”

 

Raphael chuckled,

 

“Well I think you’re jumping ahead a bit there- I’m not _you_ …but you’re right, it can get really complicated, really quickly.”

 

Magnus smiled, tilting his head, taking a sip of his own drink,

 

“And at least this way you are already halfway there.”

 

Raphael balked, quirking his eyebrow

 

“Halfway?”

 

Magnus smirked,

 

“Well sweetheart, I know you’re not naive enough to think I wouldn’t require a few words with your possible romantic partner? I mean, you got to meet Simon’s best friend, it’s only fair I get the same opportunity.”

 

Raphael sputtered,

 

“Magnus you’ve already met him. You like him, you said so yourself!”

 

“Hmm….true…but that was just as someone who you might possibly think about asking out…that is quite vague and ambiguous,

 

I like him as a person, and as a detective, but darling, this is a whole different situation.

 

I have to find out what his intentions are…I mean for all I know the adorable, charming, flailing, awkwardness is just an oh so clever disguise…

 

The boy could be quite the player.

 

I have to be sure.”

 

Raphael shook his head

 

“Hell. No. You are NOT giving Simon a shovel talk. It is not happening.”

 

Magnus gasped,

 

“But darl-”

 

“No Magnus it will not happen.”

 

“Oh come now! I w-”

 

“Magnus? No.”

 

He huffed,

 

“What if I ju-”

 

“Magnus you are not going to scare the poor guy.”

 

Magnus rolled his eyes,

 

“But Kevin got t-”

 

“ _Kevin is a less threatening human version of Bambi_. You are The High Warlock Of Brooklyn.”

 

Magnus huffed,

 

“Ah but he doesn’t know that!”

 

“Ye- yes, I know, but he knows you’re dangerous! He thinks you’re some kind of criminal- hell from the way the people at the precinct react to you, the unbreakable cone of silence around you, the club, and just your general, well, _Magnus-ness_ he probably thinks your some type of crime boss.

 

He’s not stupid, and he caught just as much as Alec, he’s just cool-headed enough to keep it to himself because he realized having a hissy-fit about one lie was kind of counterproductive during a murder case.

 

So see:

 

He’s intelligent enough to figure things out, intuitive enough to pick up that you’re a threat, cool-headed enough to know when to hold his tongue,  brave enough to stand up to you when it counts like when he basically ordered you to go after Alec, and wise enough to know the difference.

 

He’s sweet and kind and funny and without a doubt one of the best people I have ever met.” He trailed off, meeting his eyes,

 

“I like him Mags…

 

A lot.

 

And I really think there could be something there.

 

That’s all you need to know at this point, okay?”

 

Magnus sighed, slipping his arm around Raphael’s shoulders squeezing gently,

 

“You are quite right darling...

 

I’ll leave the dear alone, I trust your judgment…” he trailed off chuckling,

 

“Hell, looking at my track record I actually trust your judgment more than my own.”

 

Raphael gave a huffing laugh, nodding,

 

“As it should be…” he glanced over smirking faintly,

 

“So…does that mean I don’t get to vet Alec as a potential ‘love interest’ for _you_?”

 

Magnus snorted,

 

“You do and the deal’s off…”

 

“But you DID say my judgment is better than yours here?”

 

“Yes… be that as it may, and I do mean this in the nicest possible way darling?

 

Butt out.”

 

Raphael chuckled

 

“For what it’s worth? He’s one of the few potentials you’ve had that I actually like.”

 

Magnus glanced over in surprise

 

Raphael shrugged,

 

“Well, he’s smart and stubborn, he doesn’t back down even though he can feel you’re a threat he doesn’t let that slow him down. You don’t have to tone yourself down around him and he doesn’t just try to placate you.

 

Also, as he’s human it’s not like he’s just interested in your power, or caught up in the whole ‘High Warlock Of Brooklyn’ flash and dramatics.

 

He sees you as you, and he’s not afraid to call you out on it.

 

I like that…and judging by that first meeting you do too…

 

A bit more than I’d really care to know…

 

But still.”

 

Magnus chuckled, before sighing faintly, giving a bit of a shrug,

 

“Well, unfortunately that may be irrelevant. He caught me in a lie, and there’s no way that will be the only time it happens. I’m usually quite skilled at covering but both him and Isabelle are annoyingly perceptive.

 

I couldn’t see getting too much by either of them. Alexander is absolutely intoxicating, but I cannot be honest with him, and I don’t think he’d be able to accept that. Not that I blame him…”

 

Raphael made a noncommittal hum,

 

“That is true; it would be quite difficult…but not flat out impossible. With the whole PI thing we’ll be at the station more, probably work together on occasion.

 

He’s a detective; he can’t be THAT naive,

 

He has to understand that things aren’t always so clear cut. If he can see that he can trust you- even if you are not entirely honest- maybe it could still work?

 

I mean, it may take some time, and effort, but quite frankly you actually having to put effort into getting someone is probably a good thing, that doesn’t really happen too often.”

 

Magnus glanced over in surprise,

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing darling…just you sound somewhat unnervingly optimistic…

 

Should I be worried?”

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head,

 

“Yeah it’s weird, but I think I’m okay. Just a side effect of spending hours talking to a ridiculously adorable infectiously positive guy then being woken up to a shovel talk by a pissed off, blushing Bambi…

 

It’ll pass. I’m sure I’ll be back to my usual snarky, cynical self in no time.” He finished with a dismissive wave,

 

Magnus chuckled, squeezing his shoulder, before pulling away grabbing his drink, taking a sip,

 

Raphael settled turning slightly to face him, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“So…about this Private Investigation scheme of yours…”

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked Alec teasing Simon about checking up on Raphael…
> 
>  
> 
> Have a feeling that may be a running theme, can’t say I blame them…
> 
>  
> 
> How can you NOT be protective of Simon?
> 
>  
> 
> I really like how all the platonic relationships are going in this series,
> 
>  
> 
> Did you catch where Raphael nearly tripped up and said he DID know who Magnus was?
> 
>  
> 
> He’s gonna have to be careful.
> 
>  
> 
> I know Magnus should have brought up the whole Alec remembering more than he intended, but I think he’s trying to figure that one out. we’ll circle back to that…
> 
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> 
> So, what do you guys think so far?
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>  


	10. Explanations And Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ##  💜💜Chapter Complete!!💜💜
> 
>  
> 
> **Alec receives yet another visitor**
> 
> **Raphael meets Divya and officially Raj**

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#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**_  (Luke) _ **

_Okay, here goes nothing_

He reached up, tapping quickly on the door, before pushing it open, spotting Alec setting up in the hospital bed.

 

“Hey Alec,” he winced in sympathy at the bruise and faint knot on his temple,

 

_Man, no wonder Simon was so freaked out when he’d called in._

 

Adding that to the spell he could definitely understand how he kind of forgot to get details.

 

_The poor guy probably thought Alec was dead when he first saw him_

 

He stilled, tilting his head, catching a faint scent…

 

_Huh…_

Magnus was here. He could see the memory spell but there was more…he could already see the bruise beginning to heal, he’d be willing to bet the detective’s rate of recovery will be just this side of miraculous,

 

He fought off a slight grumbling growl…

 

_Not about the help…he was more than relieved his best detective would be good as new as quickly as possible._

 

More at The High Warlock Of Brooklyn actually bothering to go out of his way to help a random detective he’d known less than a week.

 

_Gee, wonder why?_

_Safeguard to keep an eye out for Supernatural issues my ass…_

Crap, he’s never gonna be able to keep the guy away from his head detective now…Magnus tended to be somewhat flighty but when he fixates on something he wants there’s really no stopping him.

 

Ugh…he actually is gonna have to talk to the other Supernaturals down at the station…If Magnus is going to be hanging around the station (and let’s be real; if he’d actually bother to come to the hospital to check up on Alec, treat his injuries as much as possible without drawing too much attention, and oh so conveniently decide to start a paranormal PI agency the same week he met the detective he was most definitely gonna be around) they cannot be nearly as obvious.

 

All his people down at the station are intelligent but Alec and Simon are some of the sharpest he’s ever met…Simon’s usually far less willing to call people out when he catches someone in a lie but he knows that the younger detective catches just as much as Alec.

 

If every time Magnus comes into the precinct half the people there freeze, gawk or panic and hide they’re bound to figure something’s up.

 

He can’t do much about the criminals and such in for questioning but he can at least rein it in a bit with his own people…

 

_H-_

 

“Luke, is everything okay? Iz said the case was pretty well wrapped up, there weren’t any problems, were there?”

 

He shook his head faintly, putting on a convincing smile,

 

“No, sorry I was kind of caught off guard by the bruise.”

 

Alec gave a faint huff, rolling his eyes

 

“Alright that’s it; next time Izzy comes in I’m telling her to bring her makeup kit.”

 

He chuckled, moving closer, settling next to the bed,

 

_Damn he hated lying to his own people…_

_Especially when they were caught in the supernatural crossfire,_

_Still it was the safest way._

He quirked his eyebrow, giving a slightly relieved smile,

 

“So, seeing as you’re grumbling and joking I’m guessing it looks worse then it feels…How are you doing?”

 

He shrugged

 

“Well, like I told Iz, considering at one point yesterday I woke up tied to a chair in the center of a hexagram with some lunatic ranting about monsters, sacrifices and brandishing a knife, think I’m actually doing pretty good.”

 

Luke gave a slight huffing almost laugh, eyes widening slightly,

 

Alec shrugged, continuing,

 

“Last night I did have the start of a migraine and was a bit sore, but I actually feel pretty much back to normal now.

 

The doctor was just in, said everything looks really good, They’re gonna keep me one more night, just to make absolutely sure I don’t have any kind of reaction to any unknown sedative or anything but other than that I’m in the clear. The doctors are really optimistic, said I should be cleared for work Monday.”

 

Luke smiled, nodding,

 

“That’s good to hear but if you think you need more time please take it? I don’t want you rushing back just to prove a point.”

 

Alec shrugged,

 

“I know, and if I thought I did I would, but I really think I’m good. It was insane and totally crazy…I mean I was almost sacrificed to a demon by a madman trying to protect humanity from ‘monsters’…REALLY was not something I ever expected to have to deal with. But thanks to Magnus I’m okay,

 

I’m just glad I made it out.”

 

Luke froze, tilting his head curiously,

 

“Thanks to Magnus?”

 

Alec sighed,

 

“I know, I know. Izzy said Raphael and Simon are the ones that brought me in, she filled me in on a bit of the info, so did Simon-

 

He called Magnus, told him someone called me with a tip about him which he thought was a trap- and he was totally right-

 

The guy didn’t even know Magnus’s name.

 

Magnus and Raphael were closer to the building than Simon…there were reports of explosions leading up to the fire. They heard one, knew I was supposed to be there, came in to look for me.

 

But it’s kinda murky from there…

 

Simon said when he got there Raphael had been helping me down the stairs, he was on the third floor landing, maybe he’d stopped to rest, he said I was leaning against the wall and he thought I was dead and they took me to the hospital…

 

He said he never saw Magnus.”

 

Luke nodded, handing the folder he was carrying over to him, the one with the ‘official’ report.

 

“Yeah, they said it seemed like the explosion came from the top floor, so they rushed up the stairs to check it out, found you tied up. Raphael got you loose and helped you down the stairs while Magnus tried to talk Rodger down.

 

Apparently it escalated, he’d totally lost it, wasn’t listening to reason, ranting and raving.

 

He became more and more agitated and ended up knocking over some of the chemicals he’d been using for the brands and sedatives. The chemicals reacted and ignited, Magnus said it was an odd bluish violet, he’d never seen that before, but he knew it was really bad.

 

There was nothing Magnus could do for Rodger, he had to get out. He made it out of the building just as the explosion hit.

 

When the flames were put out we found extensive evidence. Rambling notes documenting his decent into madness, vlogs and a whole assortment of other things.

 

It was all him, he acted alone.

 

He was convinced the world was overrun with monsters; the brands were to protect humanity, but in order to get it to work he had to test it…to procure test subjects he used an unknown sedative, similar to a roofie, though a great deal more powerful and nearly instantaneous.

 

It would appear something in the sedative reacted with the chemicals in the brands, causing the victims to relax so much their bodies just shut down, so I guess in a way Simon was right; it was a reaction to the ‘angelic protection brands’.” He paused, shaking his head,

 

“This was a really insane one, there was no preparing for it. You guys did really well, I’m glad you made it out Alec.”

 

He tilted his head curiously, eyes sharp and focused,

 

_Ah crap…that’s his ‘there’s something you’re not telling me’ face_

Luke sighed,

 

“Ale-”

 

He shook his head, giving a faint sigh of his own,

 

“You know? This is the whole reason I was so quick to jump at the Magnus info in the first place. I know the guy’s a hell of a lot more than just a pretty, flirty club owner, and it is blatantly obvious that near everyone knows it, but no one will tell me a damn thing about the guy.

 

I don’t know what’s going on, or why so many people are so damn insistent on lying and covering for the guy, but…

 

Hell,

 

Right now I really don’t care.

 

I know what the report says, and without even looking at it I’d bet there’s hardly any mention of Magnus at all-

 

Probably little more than a sentence or two…

 

But I know HE is the one who saved my life. I know that without a shadow of a doubt. I don’t know how he did, or even really why he did,

 

But I know he did.

 

And I also know that’s not gonna show up in any damn report, which really annoys the hell out of me. But as there is no doubt in my mind without him I would not have made it out, I really don’t care.

 

He saved my life and for that I am eternally grateful.” He trailed off, sighing, giving a slightly aggravated shrug,

 

“I just wish I could get some straight answers about the guy.”

 

Luke sighed as well, shaking his head,

 

“I really wish you could too.”

 

He looked up meeting his gaze

 

“Then why don’t you just tell me?”

 

He took a deep breath, crossing his arms over his chest, shaking his head apologetically,

 

“Alec I really wish I could…but it’s just not that simple. I would love to be able to explain, but, honestly I wouldn’t even know where to begin and quite frankly just doing so would be dangerous as hell.”

 

He tilted his head,

 

“What do you mean dangerous? For you? For him?”

 

“For **_you_** Alec.”

 

“But w-”

 

“No, Alec…look if I could I would tell you everything, but I can’t, I really can’t. And it’s not to protect myself or even him…it’s to protect you. And I know what you’ll say, that you’re an adult and a detective and you can handle it, but it’s just not that damn simple.

 

It’s not.

 

It’s unbelievably long and convoluted and implausibly complicated…

 

It’s just flat out mind bogglingly insane…

 

And I mean that literally.” He paused, deflating a bit, shaking his head, giving a slight sigh,

 

“Alec I know it pisses you off being in the dark on this and if there was another way I’d tell you in a heartbeat, I would.

 

You are the best detective I have, a good friend and I would trust you with my life. It’s not a matter of not wanting you to know, it’s that I don’t want to risk losing my best detective and a great friend, not if I can help it.

 

You said you remembered him saving your life? I have no doubt in my mind he did. God knows he’s done it for me more times than I care to remember…

 

Hell more times than I actually CAN remember.

 

I know he seems insane and dangerous and…well insane a few more times…and honestly that’s because his is.

 

He is the most baffling, odd, crazy bastard I have ever met.

 

But under all of that?

 

All the crazy, menace, reckless, fearless, infuriatingly aggravating ‘ _Magnus-ness’_?

 

He really is a good person.

 

He’s loyal and scarily brave and fiercely protective.

 

Magnus sees Brooklyn as HIS city and he will do whatever he needs to to keep it safe.

 

He’s bizarre, and at times downright terrifying, but at the end of the day he is on the same side as us.

 

He just wants the people of this city to be protected.

 

And that is the honest to god truth.”

 

Alec stared at him for a moment, a swirl of emotions and questions flitting through his mind, before giving a slight sigh,

 

“And that’s about all you can tell me.”

 

Luke shrugged, nodding,

 

Alec nodded back,

 

“Then I suppose that has to be enough. Like I said, the man saved my life, and it sounds like yours to. I don’t know what that makes him, or what he’s up to or into or whatever else, but gotta admit, right now? I’m pretty damn glad he is.”

 

Luke chuckled,

 

“Yeah, he kinda has the effect.

 

It’s annoying as hell.”

 

Alec laughed

 

“Seems like it would be…So, you think we’ll have any other cases with him? He did save my life; I’d like to get the chance to thank him.”

 

_He had to fight down a growlish-groan_

_Well…at least Magnus’s interest was reciprocated_

Luke sighed, giving a slight smile, nodding

 

“Oh, I can nearly guarantee it.”

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#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

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**_  (Raj) _ **

_O-okay…it’s gonna be okay….nothing to worry about…_

_Nothing at all…_

Just a mind-numbingly powerful warlock and terrifying Vampire freaking clan leader coming over to their apartment…

 

_Oh crap…_

_How is he even g-_

_“Eep!”_ he squeaks, jumping nearly a foot in the air at the knock at the door

 

Divya glances over at him quirking her eyebrow, beginning to head towards the door,

 

“You alright bro?”

 

He gulps, nodding quickly, nervously pushing his hair back,

 

“Yeah, I’m good.” he said waving her forward,

 

She gives a slight nod in return, turning, practically bouncing with excitement as she makes her way to the door.

 

He wishes he could say the cheerful excitement in the face of danger was a symptom of the sting, but she’s been like that her whole life.

 

This is the same girl who at seven insisted all she wanted for her birthday was to go to ‘Gatorworld USA’ in Florida because they had where you could feed alligators…

_They did…it was terrifying…_

 

It took their parents an hour to convince her that ‘No, it doesn’t matter how cute the baby ones are- they are not a suitable pet for a family in New York’.

 

He’d finally got her to relent when he’d said that it wouldn’t be healthy for it…and with all the stories of alligators in the sewers they could probably find one back home anyway.

 

He knew it was just an urban legend but it kept her busy all summer.

 

_Huh…_

_Well…he THOUGHT it was an urban legend…_

_He also thought Warlocks, werewolves and Vampires only existed in cheesy monster movies…_

And now he will have had all three as houseguests.

 

He sighed, shaking the thought away. He really didn’t need to deal with the possibility of even more terrifying things with fangs and claws.

 

The Vampires and Werewolves were enough to deal with right now…

 

He sighed, getting up off the couch, beginning towards the door, trying to steel himself for the insanity to come.

 

The door opened Magnus breezing in followed closely behind by the other man. He tilted his head, giving a slightly amused smile, locking eyes with Raj,

 

“Hello again Raj.”

 

Raj slowed a bit, gulping

 

_Huh…_

 

_Oh…o-okay…he’s a hell of a lot better looking when he’s not hissing and bearing his fangs._

“Umm…h-hey…” he stammered, giving an awkward wave, blushing slightly,

 

Magnus gave a slight huff, rolling his eyes, nudging Raphael,

 

“Raph, be nice! No enthralling the poor boy.”

 

He chuckled, shrugging,

 

“What? You said to get along and play nice. I am getting along. I am playing nice.”

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, pointing at him censuringly,

 

“Not like that.”

 

He huffed, rolling his eyes, giving an elegant wave,

 

“Fine…I’ll do it the boring way.” He folded his arms, giving a slight nod to both of them,

 

“Raj nice to see you again, better circumstances in any case.” he turned from Raj, all but dismissing him, looking at Divya with a slightly amused smile, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“So you’re the one who came after the High Warlock Of Brooklyn with a baseball bat, huh?”

 

She quirked her eyebrow right back, folding her arms, giving a slightly challenging shrug,

 

“He was trespassing. He’s lucky the bat was closer than my keys; I have pepper spray and a mini stun gun on there.”

 

He gave a sharp, surprised laugh, eyes widening,

 

“Oh, we are going to get along just fine.”

 

She looked him over, almost dismissively, meeting his gaze head on,

 

“I’ll be the judge of that. Why don’t you guys come on in,” she paused, locking eyes with Raphael,

 

“But don’t mess with my brother. Think he’s been through more than enough with all this, alright?”

 

Raphael chuckled, giving a slight nod,

 

“My apologies, force of habit anymore, no offense meant. Please lead the way.” He said graciously, the two terrifyingly powerful, dangerous Supernatural beings following his teenage sister into the living room, taking a seat on the couch, her on one of the twin armchairs bracketing the couch.

 

Raj blinked uncomprehendingly, before trailing along behind the others, hesitantly taking the remaining chair.

 

_Ooh…this was gonna be weird…_

Finally Magnus seemed to decide to start,

 

“Alright, may as well get the formal introductions out of the way. Raph? This is Divya and Raj Nadim. Divya and Raj, this is Raphael Santiago, head of the Brooklyn Vampire Clan, partner in my soon to be paranormal PI business, and my best friend.”

 

Raphael smiled setting forward, glancing between the two,

 

“It is nice to meet you two…and I do apologize for the whole enthralling thing. I was just having a bit of fun, as well as giving you an idea of some of the abilities the Supernaturals you will meet may have.” He paused, glancing over Raj,

 

“Honestly it may be rather difficult for you. We can almost always see when a human is spelled to see us. The only way we cannot is if the being who cast the spell is actively hides it as the Demon did with the spell on you.

 

However since it was banished back to Calon tywyll and its subsequent hold on you broken the masking of the spell will dissipate…it is already happening.

 

When I saw you the other day I could not actually see the spell, now I can…it is faint, but it is there. Pretty much every supernatural you see will also be able to see it as well.”

 

Divya gasped, eyes widening,

 

“Wait… _THAT’S what that is!?_ The kinda air shimmery, mirage type thing? I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me…or my imagination or something…

 

I’ve saw it on a few other people, like at school and stuff. I thought it was just like an after effect from seeing the other supernatural things or something.”

 

Magnus shook his head, leaning forward as well,

 

“No sweetheart; that is how we can tell the humans that can see us. It is a kind of safeguard, both for us as well as for them.”

 

It was Raj’s turn to sit forward, tilting his head in confusion,

 

“Umm…s-safeguard? Why would you guys need any kind of safeguard?”

 

Magnus sighed, glancing back at Divya almost apologetically,

 

“Because that is the only way we can tell a normal spelled human from a Gwir-Dyst.”

 

Divya blinked, shaking her head,

 

“What is a Gwir-Dyst?”

 

 

Magnus took a deep breath,

 

“Gwir-Dysts are born hunters of the supernatural.”

 

Raj set up straight,

 

“ _Wait;_ there are people out there who will be hunting my sister? I…but she’s just a teenager, and she’s not a monster she j-”

 

Magnus shook his head,

 

“They will not care. They do not care if a Supernatural is a born supernatural or turned. They do not care if you are totally non-violent or the most vicious creature in existence. They do not care that she is still technically a child or about any of the rest.

 

As far as they are concerned every last one of us is a plague, a threat, something to be hunted down and wiped out.

 

Every last one.

 

Some delude themselves into thinking they are merely protecting humanity but in actually they just like to kill. To cause pain and suffering and fear. They hunt us for fun, for sport, as a hobby or a rite of passage. As nothing more than a game. And they don’t care about any other trait you may have…

 

If a person is a supernatural that is all they see.

 

I have even heard tell of them going after spelled humans, feeling they should have immediately taken up arms against us. As if they are somehow betraying the human race by not devolving into merciless, vicious butchers.”

 

Divya glanced over at Raj fearfully,

 

“So these things, these ‘Gwir-dysts’…t-they will come after Raj too?”

 

Raj blinked, shaking his head,

 

“He said might come after me; _Will_ come after you…you’re still a kid.”

 

She scoffed,

 

“Okay, one; I’m a teenager, not a kid,

 

And two; I’m a teenager with pyrokinetic/telekinetic powers, pepper spray, a stun gun and three years of self defense classes down at the Y.

 

You are a twenty-five year old clumsy, slightly jumpy accountant whose idea of a strenuous workout is trying to run up the stairs at the office when the elevator is out.”

 

Raphael chuckled faintly, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Gotta say, my money would be on her.”

 

Raj rolled his eyes,

 

“Yeah, mine too, but that’s beside the point. She’s my sister and my responsibility, I don’t care how stupidly crazy the odds against me are I’d still do everything I can to protect her. So, these Gwir-Dysts, there’s no way to tell who they are?” he asked, glancing from Magnus to Raphael,

 

Magnus shook his head,

 

“No, there really isn’t. That is why masking a supernatural sight spell is prohibited. There are many rules and such that Supernaturals tend to bend or find workarounds for, but this is not one of them, for good reason.

 

If masking sight spells became commonplace we would have no way of knowing…all a gwir-dyst would have to do is claim to be spelled and we would not know the danger until it was too late.

 

Likewise, if a human is spelled with sight and we cannot see that and realize they can see us they will likely be mistaken for Gwir-dysts, which would almost certainly lead to their deaths.

 

It is best for all concerned that a sight spell is always visible to the supernatural community.

 

That is why one of the first things a supernatural is taught is that if they encounter someone who seems human but can see them they need to get away as quickly as possible and call someone who can deal with the situation.”

 

Raj blinked,

 

“I-w…who would we call?”

 

Magnus tilted his head, eyes flickering shimmering brightly, raising his hand giving a slight fluttering wave,

 

“That would be me darling…Or if need be, Raphael.” He gave a reassuring smile,

 

“You are actually quite lucky, most newly turned Supernaturals do not have such ready access to the two most powerful Supernaturals in the city.

 

And truthfully I am just telling you as a precaution. Cities are actually far safer for Supernaturals. The most powerful; high warlocks, strong vampire clans, alphas and the like, tend to gravitate towards cities, claim them as their territory. We protect them, as well as the people in it, human and supernatural alike.

 

 Brooklyn is my home, my territory, has been since Raph and I moved here in the forties.

 

Honestly Brooklyn is the safest place for a supernatural. It actually has the highest population of Supernaturals on record, as well as the protection of two of the most powerful Supernaturals in the country.

 

There has never been a report of a Gwir-dyst in Brooklyn, or most any other densely populated area. They tend to stick to smaller more isolated places and towns. And not to seem conceited but I doubt there is a gwir-dyst alive foolish enough to set foot in my territory.

 

Supernaturals in cities are organized, protected and there are many in positions of power…but fair warning? The farther out you get the more real the danger becomes…” he paused, giving a slight sigh, glancing between the two siblings,

 

“Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not trying to frighten you, or make you afraid to travel outside the city, I am just trying to keep you safe.

 

Both of you.” he finished softly,

 

They sat for a moment in silence, the siblings trying to process this new information, Magnus and Raphael lost in their memories.

 

Raj shook his head,

 

“Man…can’t believe I’m actually grateful to be surrounded by Supernaturals...”

 

Raphael gave a surprised laugh, nodding,

 

“Well it does have its advantages.”

 

Magnus flashing a quick smile.

 

“Look, I know this is all a lot to deal with, it is not something we can cover in one evening, it will take time and a lot of adjustments, but I am sure you two will be totally fine.”

 

Divya gave a slight laugh, shrugging,

 

“Well, seems like we’re already starting ahead of the game…apparently we have an in with the two most powerful Supernaturals in the city.

 

 Not too bad for being a supernatural all of a month…And knowing about it less than two days.”

 

Raphael chuckled, nodding,

 

“You are right about that a…” he trailed off, eyes catching on her notebook sitting on the coffee table,

 

He quirked his eyebrow, reaching forward, picking it up, idly examining the large ‘Ace Pride’ sticker plastered across the front, he glanced up at her questioningly

 

“Huh…you’re Asexual?”

 

_Okay, scary hot vampire or not, he was SO not letting the dude start on that…She was a teenage girl, she got enough grief from jackasses at school,_

 

He moved forward,

 

“Yes she is and it’s totally fine. It’s not a choice or a phase, or ‘just being picky’ or just hasn’t found the right guy or is afraid or shy or ultra religious or whatever else.

 

She isn’t confused, or a plant, or any other rude, obnoxiously insulting ‘just trying to be helpful/funny/other random thing to mask a glaringly obvious insult.

 

Just because it’s not the ‘norm’ or you don’t understand it doesn’t me-” he trails off, angry tirade cut off by laughter…

 

Like an excessive amount of laughter,

_Okay…not the reaction he expected…_

_Anger at being lectured, yeah,_

_Patronizing belittlement absolutely,_

_Maybe a scoff at the idea of him trying to tell off a fancy ‘Vampire Clan Leader’…_

_But this?_

_Yeah…SO not what he was expecting…_

 

He tilted his head in confusion, looking at the Vampire and Warlock nearly laughing themselves breathless…

 

 “Umm…what…d-did I miss something?”

 

The two laughed harder, Raphael leaning against Magnus’s shoulder, trying to get himself calmed down enough to speak,

 

He looked up, still chuckling slightly, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Uh, yes I would rather say you did…just a bit.

 

I asked about the sticker because I was surprised. Pleasantly so;

 

Your little speech was cute, and actually covered all the points quickly and concisely, which is a definite plus…

 

Though as I’m also Ace, it was rather unwarranted.”

 

Divya perked up, eyes widening in surprise

 

“You are?” she asked excitedly,

 

Raphael nodded, giving her a playful wink,

 

“Told you we’d get along…glad to have you on the team.”

 

She gave a delighted laugh,

 

“Awesome!”

 

 “No way, have you _seen_ you?” Raj blurted, before blushing, slapping his hand over his mouth realizing he said that out loud…

 

Raphael quirked his eyebrow,

 

Divya groaned, covering her eyes in embarrassment,

 

 Magnus snickered,

 

 “Umm…I uh, I mean…it’s just you’re really…umm…”

 

“Oh my god Raj? Just stop talking, please? This is bordering on painful.”

 

Raj nodded, glancing sheepishly over at Raphael,

 

“Sorry, that was rude…she’s explained it to me a lot, it just kinda caught me off guard, what with the whole ‘enthralling’ thing…I really didn’t mean to insult you.”

 

Raphael chuckled, giving a slightly dismissive wave,

 

“It’s fine, you are less confused about it than most at least. You know what it is, that is a step ahead already.

 

And-awkward as it was- you do have a point. I will admit I do tend to use attraction and appeal to my advantage when it is useful…

 

Or when threats and or intimidation are less appropriate given the situation…

 

Though generally I prefer to use the latter…”

 

Magnus gave a scoffing laugh,

 

“Usually you just mix them all together.”

 

Raphael quirked his eyebrow, glancing over at him, smirking,

 

“Look who’s talking.”

 

Magnus chuckled, tilting his head in agreement,

 

“Point taken…”

 

Raj quirked his eyebrow, glancing between the two,

 

“Umm…so wait...Is Magnus Ace too?”

 

All three of the other people in the room froze momentarily before bursting into near uncontrollable laugher,

 

 “Oh my god Raj, never change.” Magnus gasped in-between laughs, shaking his head,

 

Raphael nodded against his shoulder, not even trying to rein in his laughter,

 

Divya caught his eyes, rolling her eyes affectionately, giving him an amused, bright smile,

 

Raj wanted to be annoyed at being the butt of the joke _(An infuriatingly familiar situation for him)_ but seeing Divya laughing loud and carefree, eyes bright and cheerful he really couldn’t manage to keep the anger up too much.

 

He finally huffed once more, before giving a shrug,

 

“You know a simple ‘no’ would have sufficed.” He grumbled half-heartedly,

 

Raphael glanced over at the Warlock before turning back to Raj, shaking his head, still chuckling faintly,

 

“As someone who has known Magnus for nearly one and a quarter centuries…no…no it would not.

 

It REALLY would not.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kay so I KNOW I said the last part would be from Magnus’s POV but Raj kinda took over…oh well…I kinda like Raj (Or maybe just like tormenting him)
> 
> Anyways what do you guys thinks so far?


	11. New Beginnings And Magical Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ** Chapter Complete!!! **
> 
> **Tying up our secondary character’s storylines**
> 
> **The results of Clary and Izzy’s Magical Experiment**
> 
> **Divya and Raj have time to decompress and deal with the craziness of the day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes:**
> 
> **_Alright this chapter should be short and sweet…I need at least ONE short one in this damn story…_ **
> 
> **_Let’s see how it goes_ **

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#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

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**_  (Clary) _ **

“And the ducks kinda charged and Jace threw the entire bag of bread in the pond and took off running, screaming his head off,

 

Took me and Alec nearly an hour to track him down, and to this day he’s still freaked out by the damn things.” Izzy finished with a slight chuckle,

 

Clary giggled, eyes wide,

 

“Oh my goodness, the poor guy!”

 

Izzy nodded,

 

“Yeah, well…he can be kinda a jackass…I actually have a duck call on my phone. Whenever he’s being particularly obnoxious I wait till he’s not paying attention to what I’m doing and play it, then fain obviousness.”

 

Clary gasped unable to cut off a slight laugh,

 

“Isabelle Lightwood, that’s terrible!”

 

Izzy chuckled, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Yeah, wait till you meet him then get back to me on that.”

 

Clary glanced over, tilting her head,

 

“Oh…so you already have plans for me to meet the family, huh?”

 

Izzy’s eyes widened, she faltered, rubbing nervously at her neck,

 

“Umm…I d….umm..” she flushed slightly,

 

Clary gave an amused laugh, reaching over, squeezing her arm gently,

 

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

 

Izzy shrugged, slipping a bit closer,

 

“Well…you’re the slightly psychic wiccan…maybe it’s a glimpse of the future. Think I’ll take it as a good sign.”

 

Clary smiled, giving a faint nod,

 

“Think I will too.” she murmured softly,

 

They walked for a moment in companionable silence, making their way back to the parking lot of the hospital. After their coffee, neither of them had been ready to call it a night.

 

The hospital was actually only three blocks from Clary’s shop, when she’d happened to mention this to Izzy she’d smiled asking if they could go over and Clary could show her around.

 

It surprised Clary, and honestly she was a bit hesitant. She’d assumed a scientific minded Medical examiner wouldn’t give a second thought to an occult shop, and she really didn’t want Izzy to just humor her or ‘try to win points’ but the girl was actually sincere in her interest.

 

Clary asked about it, but Izzy just shrugged, glancing over with a soft, dizzyingly beautiful smile. She said Clary practically lit up when she spoke of the place. It was clear the shop was far more than just a business to her; it was an extension of Clary herself. She said that anything that made Clary that happy had to be something pretty special.

 

It brought Clary up short…that was the absolute truth, but she’d never had anyone pick up on it so quickly.

 

They went to the shop, and Clary- as she always did- got rather carried away with everything. She truly loved talking about the meaning of the symbols, charms, herbs and books. A few times she’d tried to rein herself in, apologizing but Izzy had just waved her off, asking more questions and genuinely showing an interest in the answers.

 

Once again the beautiful, brilliant medical examiner caught her off guard. She’d figured Izzy would listen politely, fain a bit of interest but would ultimately simply dismiss it as a hobby or quirk like most ‘serious, professional’ types…most didn’t do so out loud, but she could read people’s reactions as clearly as any book.

 

Clary tired not to hold the reactions against them, realizing that what she does simply doesn’t fit into their rather limited worldview. But surprisingly she hadn’t felt any of that from Izzy. 

 

 She had been totally captivated. Genuinely interested. She didn’t act like it was just a hobby or an insignificant little thing; she really seemed to understand how much the shop meant to Clary.

 

And that was huge.

 

Clary took a deep breath, giving a soft, contented sigh, glancing up at the brilliant, shimmering moon hanging high overhead,

 

_Hmm…it was an absolutely lovely night…_

_And an even lovelier date._

She settled a bit closer to Izzy’s side, glancing over in amazement,

_Wow…she was so beautiful,_

_Everything about her._

Yes she was gorgeous, the girl looked like she’d stepped out of a magazine, but there was so much more to her than that.

 

She was strong, brilliant, utterly determined and completely fearless. She absolutely radiated strength, power and confidence, but it wasn’t from vanity or an inflated opinion of herself, or even the prestige of her profession.

 

It was just her.

 

The girl absolutely took Clary’s breath away.

 

And that worried her.

 

When they’d first met the real reason she was hesitant to accept the date was she simply didn’t think she’d be able to hold this amazing woman’s interest…

 

And she knew herself; she falls fast and hard.

 

She didn’t want to take the risk.

 

Isabelle was absolutely captivating, and there was defiantly sparks there _(literal ones when they’d shook hands actually…oops, hopefully she’d just write that off as static or something)_. There was definite chemistry but she really couldn’t see a Medical Examiner viewing the owner of an occult shop as an actual serious romantic possibility…

 

But Izzy was so adorably insistent with the ‘Magical Experiment’ thing. She couldn’t help but be charmed and go along with it…and now she had a feeling it was rather too late.

 

She smiled as they reached the parking lot, coming to a stop next to Izzy’s car. Izzy turned back to her, leaning against the car, giving a slightly hopeful smile,

 

“So…about the Magical Experiment?”

 

Clary quirked her eyebrow,

 

“Yes?” she asked teasingly,

 

Izzy chuckled,

 

“Well, I can’t speak for the Magic part, but from the whole scientific half? I’d say the experiment was definitely a success.”

 

Clary pretended to think for a second, tapping her chin thoughtfully,

 

“Hmm…”

 

Izzy gave a huffing laugh, rolling her eyes,

 

Clary giggled, meeting her eyes with a soft smile,

 

“Well, I can’t say about the scientific half…but I know magic when I feel it.” she paused reaching into her bag, pulling out a shimmery purple pen, reaching forward catching Izzy’s hand, turning it over, writing her number with a bit of a flourish and a little heart by the last digit, glancing back up, meeting her eyes, lightly squeezing her hand.

 

“Call me?”

 

Izzy gulped, nodding quickly, cheeks flushing, leaning a bit against the car for support, reaching in her pocket fumbling the phone out, imputing the info with one hand, quickly tapping out a message, hitting the send button

 

Clary’s phone chimed, she laughed, reaching in her bag, retrieving it, glancing at the screen,

 

**_Unknown Number: Dinner tomorrow?_ **

****

She giggled, nodding eyes bright, clicking the number to save, sending a reply,

 

**_Clary: Yes._ **

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#  _ Other-Other-Other-Other-Other _

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**_  (Divya) _ **

_Oh my god, what an insane few days!_

I mean it really went right along with the insane freaking month. She’d kinda assumed starting things off by being attacked by a giant fire scorpion monster would probably be the craziest thing.

 

Now there are werewolves and warlocks and vampires and an entire hidden supernatural world that she is now a part of.

 

_That is SO freaking cool!_

Okay yeah the Rhwystro tân attack was absolutely terrifying…and then there was the panic when all the information she could find on the welts came from dead bodies…

 

She really had thought for the last week that the sting was fatal…that was probably one of the scariest things she’d ever experienced.

 

Though it was a tossup between that and thinking she was gonna be a freaky were-scorpion.

 

_And now here she was._

She had a soon to be new afterschool job at a paranormal/supernatural Private investigation agency ran by The High Warlock Of Brooklyn and the Head of the Brooklyn Vampire Clan.

 

She really hoped she could make a good impression on them. Yeah, so far she’d done pretty well but she really didn’t want them to see her as a kid or a liability. She wanted to be able to hold her own with them. She couldn’t wait for Magnus to begin training her to use her powers.

 

And Raphael seemed awesome (Well when he wasn’t enthralling her brother). Plus he was Ace! That was SO cool, she really hadn’t met too many other ace people, it would be amazing having someone who really got it. Raj tried, and she loved him for it but sometime it would be really nice to talk to someone who truly understood.

 

_She couldn’t believe the turn this week had taken._

 

She’d started it truly thinking she was living on borrowed time, that she was going to have to find a way to tell her brother her days were numbered.

 

Now she is a freaking superhero in training under the guidance of the most powerful Supernatural in the country.

 

She’d already started studying all the information Magnus had left her…it really was fascinating. He’d left the stuff on the Rhwystro tân and all of that but, oh my god…there was SO much more.

 

There was information on fairies, were-creatures, shifters (Which are different, though she’s unclear how yet), Magics, vampires, demons, Fae and so many more…as soon as they finished dinner she was heading back to it.

 

_It was just amazing._

 

She really couldn’t wait for school on Monday ( _and wasn’t that an odd thought_ ). But now that she knew what was going on, knew about the beings that she’d been seeing for the last few weeks…and that they’d be able to see her…would see her as one of them.

 

That was just amazing.

 

_Huh?_

 

_I wonder if it’s rude to just go up to a supernatural and ask about them?_

 

Is it rude? Or would it be just curious? I mean, surely if they can see that she was turned into a supernatural they’d expect questions…

 

Though, it’s not about a hobby or a fashion choice or whatever, it’s about who they are.

 

_Hmm…that might be kinda personal…_

She’ll have to ask Magnus. She doesn’t want to offend them, but seriously, she just found out there is an entire hidden world going on around them.

 

She can’t help but be curious.

 

Maybe if s-

“Div w-”

 

She startled at a hand on her shoulder, whirling, catching it, twisting, wrenching the arm back and up sharply,

 

_“Oww! Uncle, truce, timeout! Whatever you wanna call it! It’s just me!”_

“Oh crap! Sorry Raj...” she stepped back; he stumbled slightly, rubbing at his arm, glaring faintly

 

She huffed, glaring right back

 

“I told you not to sneak up on me! You know I startle easily!”

 

He huffed,

 

“Yeah, so do I…but when I startle I jump and yell, I don’t attack whatever startled me! If the breeze from an open window blew over a lamp and it startled you, would you attack the lamp?!”

 

She shrugged,

 

“If the lamp snuck up behind me and grabbed my shoulder.”

 

“Okay first off I didn’t sneak up on you, I called your name like four times, and secondly that woul…actually you know what? I’m not gonna finish that sentence; I do and within a week I’m gonna be having tea with some bizarre lamp monster that you decide to tutor in science.

 

I’m not doing it.

 

 In the last two days I’ve seen a demon, a warlock, a vampire and a werewolf; three of which have now been guests in our home and two of which you are going to be working with…I’m done thinking anything’s impossible.

 

From now on I’m just going with believing in everything; fairies, leprechauns, bigfoot, aliens, freaking sewer alligators, I don’t care-

 

They exists, great, awesome, good for them, so long as they exist _outside_ my home and are not trying to manipulate me into raising hell on earth, I don’t care.” He groaned faintly, rubbing at his eyes, leaning against the counter,

 

She sighed, settling in next to him, lightly bumping her shoulder against his,

 

“Sorry for the whole hammerlock big bro…I really didn’t hear you; I was just thinking about everything that happened the last couple days. Guess I was kinda lost in my head.

 

Hey, at least you know we got our money’s worth with all of my self defense classes?”

 

He gave a slight laugh, nodding,

 

“True…and by now I should know to try to get your attention before I approach…I need to start carrying candy or something with me, this way I can just stop by the door and throw it at you till I get your attention.”

 

She snorted, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Raj…that’s not gonna work, I’ve seen you throw.”

 

“Hey!” he laughed, nudging her,

 

She glanced over, tilting her head,

 

“I really am sorry, it’s just been a crazy couple of days; guess I’m more on edge than I thought.”

 

He shook his head,

 

“It’s fine Div…I mean, yesterday we had a terrifyingly powerful warlock portal into our living room…

 

Probably not a bad idea to be a bit more on guard.”

 

She laughed, nodding faintly,

 

“Yeah…but thanks to that terrifyingly powerful warlock I’ll soon be learning how to use my own powers…

 

Next to Pyrokenisis and telekinesis my baseball bat seems almost crude.”

 

Raj gave a slightly disbelieving laugh, shaking his head,

 

“Yeah…yeah you will…”he trailed off, glancing away,

 

She tilted her head, nudging his shoulder again,

 

“How are you doing with all this?”

 

He seemed surprised,

 

“Huh? Fine.”

 

She shook her head,

 

“Raj, come one, you are not fine. I know this is insane and you’re totally freaking about it but you don’t want me to worry or to seem like you’re angry at me, so you’re trying to keep it to yourself.

 

Come on bro, you know you don’t have to do that with me.

 

Really, how are you doing?”

 

 He froze for a moment before sighing, rubbing at his face, shaking his head,

 

“Honestly? I can’t tell you how I’m doing, because _I_ don’t even know how I’m doing.

 

You were attacked by that freaky scorpion thing and I could tell something was wrong, that there was more to it that you weren’t telling me, but you wouldn’t tell me, and that kinda made me mad because you tell me everything, but way more than that it terrified me because if you weren’t telling me it had to be bad.

 

A-and all I wanted to do is help, and I did this crazy thing that I didn’t even think would work…I mean who the hell thinks ‘summoning an angel’ is gonna work?

 

Only it did…or I thought it did.

 

And then I thought okay, this can help…it might be okay. But the ‘angel’ said it wasn’t because the thing that attacked you was just one of countless monsters that were hunting humans, hiding in plain sight.

 

And then I could see them too and it was so bizarre and nightmarish and I didn’t know what to do…

 

And the angel said the only way to help you was to get rid of all the monsters…that doing so would not only protect you but the entire human race.

 

S-so I helped it…I hated it…every second of it, it made me feel sick and everything inside me was saying it was wrong but I could see the monsters…

 

I could see them and no one else could.

 

A-and then…then it tried to get me to kill someone…and…god…it terrifies me how close I came.

 

I want to think I wouldn’t have done it, that I’d of been able to see through it, but…I really don’t think I would.

 

If Magnus had been a few moments later…I-I don’t think I’d be able to come back from that.

 

Then two of these terrifying monsters burst into the room and attack the angel…only it’s not an angel it’s a demon and the ‘monsters’ are the good guys…

 

And then I could see it and…

 

Oh my god…it was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. I panicked when I first saw it, but I went back…I went back because Magnus said the only way it could be sent back is through me, and I didn’t want to be responsible for that thing being here.

 

And I go back and It’s fighting Magnus and the building is shaking and he’s glowing, and the demon is giving this bloodcurdling yell and it’s raising its hand and I can still see those claws glinting in the light every time I close my eyes.

 

And Magnus did the spell and it pulled the demon into the vortex only it grabbed me…it nearly pulled me in too.

 

And it was crazy and terrifying and I almost wonder if I’d be better off if I WAS one of the humans who couldn’t handle it and was just imagining things cause it’d probably be LESS crazy than my apparent new world.

 

And then Magnus is telling me you’re not human anymore and you’re one of them and then the building is on fire and Magnus is pulling me through a portal into our living room and you’re attacking him with a baseball bat and _oh my god_ I can’t believe you attacked The freaking High Warlock Of Brooklyn with a baseball bat!

 

And then I’m standing on the sidelines while my teenage sister, a warlock and the alpha werewolf chief of the BPD concoct some crazy cover story to cover the even crazier truth of a serial killer.

 

And then I’m just casually meeting the head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan who sort of partly enthralled me just for the hell of it since my newly supernatural teenage sister is going to be working part time at the Warlock and the vampire’s supernatural PI agency!

 

And you’re fine! You’re fine and I am SO glad about that, I am so relieved, I can’t even began to say how much I am, cause I really had no idea how close I came to losing you and that…that would absolutely kill me.

 

I know it would.

 

But you’re fine; you’re excited and eager and ready to jump right into the Supernatural the same way you do everything else and…

 

 And honestly?

 

Honestly I am just so freaking terrified I don’t even know where to begin.

 

You’re going to be working with monsters…the world is full of monsters, and demons and these things that hunt them…and now you…

 

And I just really don’t know what to do with all of this.

 

And I know it will work out, I know it will be fine. I know because it’s you, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that you can handle anything this world throws at you…but I just don’t know what to do anymore.

 

You’ve always been strong and fearless and annoyingly brave…and now you’re gonna be all of that only super powered.” He sighed, shaking his head, slipping his arm around her, hugging her tightly for a moment.

 

“I’m your big brother, it’s my job to protect you…but I really don’t know how to do that with all of this.

 

I don’t know how to deal with warlocks and vampires and all the rest of it and I am terrified that you are going to get into something that I just can’t protect you from…and I really hate that feeling.”

 

She sighed, wrapping both her arms around him, hugging him tightly,

 

“Raj? You are always my big brother…and you don’t protect me; we protect each other. I have your back just as much as you have mine.

 

You’re right…this is totally insane, and by myself I could never handle it, I just couldn’t. But **_we_** can.”

 

He hugged her tighter once more before taking a deep breath, pulling back meeting her eyes

 

“You really think so?”

 

She nodded

 

“I know so.

 

And I know a lot of this is gonna be crazy and probably terrifying…

 

But it’s also gonna be amazing.

 

And we get to see it all together. We get to see the crazy, and the terrifying and the amazing and the wonderful.” She paused, shaking her head, eyes shimmering bright and excited,

 

“Raj? There is magic and creatures. There are warlocks and fairies, vampires, pixies, shapeshifters and so many more than we can even list. There is an entire hidden world that we have been surrounded by our entire lives that we have been oblivious to…

 

That humans simply can’t see, can’t process or perceive…

 

That we can now see.

 

That we are now a part of.

 

How amazing is that?” She finished with a slightly breathless almost laugh,

 

He blinked a few times, before giving a slight chuckle, shaking his head,

 

“You know, the way you make it sound, pretty amazing.”

 

She gave a beaming smile, nodding

 

“It will be, I know it.”

 

He laughed, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Hey, Magnus said the Rhwystro tân _didn’t_ cause clairvoyance.”

 

She laughed, shrugging,

 

“Call it a hunch…but you know I’m always right.”

 

He shook his head,

 

“No, you’re always too stubborn to admit when you are wrong, big difference.”

 

She rolled her eyes, before pausing, tilting her head,

 

“You got the name right?”

 

He shrugged,

 

“Well I may have taken a look at a few of the things Magnus left…If’ I’m gonna be dragged kicking and screaming through a swirling vortex of crazy I’d really prefer to know what I’m facing ahead of time…

 

If anything else so I can scream the right name for whatever terrifying hell beast is after me.

 

Insanity is no excuse for inaccuracy.”

 

She gave a scoffing laugh, rolling her eyes,

 

“Leave it to you to turn finding out about a new amazing hidden world into extra homework.”

 

She chuckled again, turning from him at the timer on the oven, grabbing the potholder off the counter, retrieving the lasagna, carrying the pan over to the kitchen table, Raj turned automatically going to the fridge getting the salad and a couple cans of soda, slipping around her at the table dropping the bowl off, quickly backtracking for the silver wear, her making a beeline for the plates, quickly getting everything situated, taking their seats, fixing their plates.

 

They sat for a bit, digging into their food, both lost in their own thoughts of the unexpected turn their lives had taken.

 

Divya glanced up from her plate, tilting her head,

 

“Hey Raj?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“D-do you mind me going to work for Magnus and Raphael?” she asked hesitantly,

 

He paused a moment, shaking his head,

 

“Honestly? I have no doubt there’ll be a lot of times when I’ll regret letting you…

 

But let’s be real.

 

I haven’t ‘let’ you do anything in a long time.

 

You’re smart, and brave and fearless. I trust your judgment and I trust you to know when and if you are getting into something over your head and knowing when to pull back.”

 

She smiled, giving a slight nod,

 

“I will, I promise.”

 

He smiled,

 

“Then no, I don’t mind. It does make sense; he’s going to be teaching you about your powers and this will probably be a really good way for you to learn about the supernatural world…whatever else Magnus and Raphael may be I get the feeling between the two of them they’ve seen just about everything.”

 

She nodded eagerly eyes bright,

 

“Man I bet...

 

And how cool is it Raphael is Ace too? Like what are the odds of that?”

 

He shook his head faintly,

 

“Yeah, I’m still having trouble believing that part…The dude practically radiates sex appeal…seems crazy he has no interest in it.”

 

She tilted her head consideringly,

 

“I think maybe a lot of that’s just the Vampire magnetism/enthralling thing.”

 

He scoffed,

 

“I don’t know, but it’s disturbing whatever it is.”

 

She shrugged,

 

“I think he’s pretty awesome.”

 

He gave a short laugh

 

“I think you’re insane”

 

She chuckled

 

“Well, we live in the supernatural capital of the world…Insanity might actually be beneficial.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww! I love these two!
> 
> Hope you all don’t mind but we may have quite a bit more Clizzy in this series than the last one…
> 
> I really like Raj and Divya (Raj is fun to torment and Divya’s just fun)
> 
> What do you guys think so far?


	12. This Could Be The Start Of Something Wonderful…

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#  _ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _

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_Huh…_

 

This is the place Raphael had said to meet him…he really hoped everything was okay. He hadn’t said what it was about in his text; just asked if he wasn’t too busy to meet him at ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ the all night coffee place by the entrance of Brooklyn Bridge Park. He hadn’t been here before; it looked like a nice little place though.

 

He wondered why he’d wanted to meet here…

 

Hopefully there wasn’t anything wrong…

_Maybe t-_

 

“Hey, Simon.” Raphael said, voice right by his shoulder,

 

Simon startled faintly, whirling around,

 

Raphael’s eyes widened,

 

“Oh damnit, sorry, that really wasn’t intentional.” He said sheepishly, giving an apologetic shrug,

 

Simon laughed, shaking his head,

 

“No problem, I’ll get used to it, an… _wow_ …” he trailed off, eyes widening looking over Raphael, blushing faintly,

_Oh wow…he looked really good tonight..._

_Like REALLY good…_

 

He was wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, with a deep wine red shirt, and some vest/waistcoat kinda thing, all of which looked obscenely expensive and had to be made for him, clothes don’t just fit like that.

 

Everything about him looked purposeful, precise and stylish. He was smiling softly, holding two cups from the coffee place…

_Oh crap…this was a date, wasn’t it?_

 

Simon swallowed nervously, glancing down at his Tardis blue ‘don’t blink’ Doctor Who shirt, slightly faded jeans and tennis shoes.

 

“Umm…h-hey Raphael…” He began to step forward to hug him before seemingly rethinking it, stepping back, blushing brighter,

 

“I-I was surprised to get your text.”

 

Raphael smiled, nodding, giving a slight shrug,

 

“I know we said Saturday but I just really wanted to see you…I hope that’s alright?”

 

Simon gave a slightly giggly laugh, nodding quickly,

 

“Yeah totally! Umm…t-that’s more than alright...like _way_ more.”

_Ugh…he was such a dork_

_He needed time to prepare damnit!_

_He needed to get all his flailing, blabbering, nervous energy out before this…_

_Who just springs a date on someone!?_

_Someone who’s always suave, cool and ready for anything…_

_That’s who…_

 

Raphael chuckled, handing him one of the cups,

 

“Hope it’s okay, you said you usually get a caramel mocha so that’s what I got for you...usually they’re pretty good here…

Not that I’ve tried that, this is just the only place I can get something too, the owners are two Fae and a warlock, they have a couple different things that vamps can order… but…umm...” he trailed off, rolling his eyes faintly at himself,

_Oh my god…he was babbling!_

_He was nervous too!_

_He made Raphael nervous!_

 

He fought down a truly giddy giggle, or a painfully dorky victory dance or fist pump, taking a quick sip of his drink, smiling, giving an appreciative nod,

 

“Thank you, it’s perfect.”

 

Raphael gave a pleased smile, nodding

 

“Maravilloso…so they have some tables out here or if you would like we can walk through the park? Or we can go somewhere else; it’s up to you…”

 

Simon smiled, giving a faint shrug,

 

“Actually it’s a beautiful night; a stroll through the park sounds really nice.”

 

Raphael nodded, falling into step beside him, making their way into the park, beginning down the path.

 

Simon tilted his head,

 

“Though now that I think about it, walking through a pretty much deserted park at 10:30 at night is probably not the safest thing…especially when you’re wearing a suit that probably cost more than my rent…a couple times over…that’s like a beacon for muggers.”

 

Raphael laughed, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Lindo, you are a detective and a gwir-dyst and I am the head of the Brooklyn Vampire clan…

 

Pretty sure we are the scariest things in this park.”

 

Simon laughed, giving a quick nod,

 

“Good point.” He glanced over again,

 

“You look really nice tonight by the way…well you always do, but umm, tonight you do too…only more…” he trailed off, blushing brightly,

 

Raphael glanced down, with a sheepish smile, shrugging,

 

“Thank you Simon…you l-”

 

Simon laughed, shaking his head,

 

“I look like a total nerd just out of high school and I know it...

_I can’t believe you sprung this on me!_

 

This is SO not how I’d dress if I knew this was a date, just so you know…I mean I don’t know how to do all of _that_ ,” he gestured to Raphael’s perfectly put together outfit,

 

“But I’m really not totally clueless…”

 

Raphael chuckled, quirked his eyebrow,

 

“I really did not mean to blindside you, I thought you would realize…suppose I should have been clearer…but I’m kind of glad you didn’t.”

 

Simon startled,

 

“What? Why?”

 

Raphael smiled softly,

 

“I like getting to just see you, I don’t want you to try to rein yourself in or feel like you have to put on an act for me to like you.

 

I already do.” He paused catching his hand, entangling their fingers, squeezing gently, glancing over at him again,

 

“Besides, as I was going to say before you cut me off, you look adorable.”

 

Simon blushed brightly, giving a slightly too loud laugh, shaking his head in disbelief,

 

“Dude…you are way too good at this…

 

I don’t know how to respond to stuff like that. I’m kinda bad at it…”

 

He chuckled

 

“Well, I suppose I will just make sure you get plenty of practice.”

 

Simon gave a huffing laugh, quirking his eyebrow playfully,

 

“Hey…you act all smooth but I know you’re nervous too, you were babbling more than me for a second there…you’re just better at covering it.”

 

Raphael chuckled giving a slight shrug and a smirk,

 

“What can I say? I get flustered around adorable, blushing, babbling nerds.”

 

Simon laughed, with a beaming smile, cheeks flushing lightly,

 

_“Awesome”_

 

Raphael gave a slight nod, chuckling, squeezing his hand,

 

“Yes it is…” he sighed, them walking for a bit in companionable silence

 

“Oh, by the way I met Kevin.”

 

Simon tilted his head in surprise, glancing over curiously,

 

“Yeah? At the station?”

 

He shook his head,

 

“No…at my apartment.”

 

Simon froze,

 

“What?! Why was he at your apartment?”

 

Raphael shrugged, giving a casually dismissive wave,

 

“Oh, he just wanted to talk to me and be sure of my intentions with you. You know just your standard shovel talk kind of thing.”

 

“WHAT!” he blushed brightly,

 

“Oh my god, how bad was it?” he groaned, covering his eyes,

 

Raphael laughed, shaking his head, giving a warm smile,,

 

“Simon it’s fine…it was probably one of the most ridiculous conversations I’ve ever had, and bear in mind my best friend is Magnus- but it really was fine…

 

It was actually kind of adorable.

 

Though between a shovel speech from a pissed off Bambi and Raj trying to give me some totally unnecessary ace acceptance speech I’m beginning to think I’m losing my edge.”

 

Simon laughed, looking over in confusion,

 

“Raj what?”

 

He chuckled, taking another sip of his drink,

 

“Oh, I went with Mag’s earlier to meet Divya and officially meet Raj since she’s going to be working with us at the paranormal/supernatural Private Detective Agency we’re starting and she happened to have an Ace pride sticker on her notebook on the table…

 

I asked about it and he started in trying to lecture me on not discounting it just because I don’t understand and so on…

 

He only stopped when Me and Magnus’s laughter cut him off, I explained I asked because I was Ace too, which I think confused him more than the vampire thing…then he asked if Magnus was too…

 

Which prompted a lot more laughter-”

 

Simon laughed, shaking his head,

 

“Oh wow, yeah just a tiny bit confused there…”

 

He nodded,

 

Simon quirked his eyebrow

 

“Wait… supernatural Private Detective Agency?”

 

Raphael waved him off,

 

“I know, it’s insane, but it might come in handy…” he paused, squeezing his hand, tugging him a bit closer,

 

“Besides it would probably mean I’d get to work with you quite often…”

 

Simon grinned, humming slightly,

 

“You know, on second thought, it actually makes a lot of sense…great idea.”

 

Raphael laughed, nodding,

 

“I thought so...oh my god, this has been such an insane week…” he glanced over, letting go of his hand, slipping his arm around his waist,

 

“A really great week…but insane nonetheless.”

 

Simon sighed, nodding, leaning into him a bit, slipping his arm around Raphael’s waist as well, giving a slight laugh,

 

“You’re right about that…gotta say I never saw investigating a crazy, culty bizarre serial killer case ending with me on a date with a vampire clan leader…who knows what I am… and you know, _isn’t_ trying to kill me…

 

Anymore…”

 

Raphael huffed

 

“I was never-”

 

“Dude when you were hissing at me the other night-”

 

“I thought you were some evil hunter trying to lure me into a trap with your adorable, flailing charm…

 

I just couldn’t believe I fell for the act… I was mad at myself because I should have known it was too good to be true…you just seemed way too perfect.”

 

Simon gave a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head,

 

“Oh dude I am SO not perfect.

 

 I’m loud and way too excitable and talk way too much and I can’t sit still to save my life. I flail and fumble and am totally obsessed with embarrassingly nerdy stuff, plus I have the unique innate ability to actually trip while standing completely still…

 

And apparently I _also_ randomly blurt out all my flaws in order to prove an insanely gorgeous guy wrong when he says I’m perfect…” he trailed off rolling his eyes at himself, blushing,

 

 Raphael burst out laughing; leaning against Simon’s shoulder for support, trying to catch his breath.

 

Simon was trying to be annoyed at the guy for laughing so much at him but it was really hard when the laugh was so warm and bright and right by his ear…

 

Especially when his arm around Simon’s waist tightened tugging him closer, the laugh tapering off to a soft kinda hum, his lips brushing lightly against Simons cheek, not really a kiss, just the slightest bit of a touch,

 

"Oh mi Dios, eres lo más ridículamente adorable que he visto... ¿Cómo estás incluso real?" he chuckled warmly again, nuzzling lightly against his ear,

 

Simon shivered faintly, giving a slight breathless giggle,

 

“U-um…I…I don’t know what that actually means but it sounded like, really _insanely_ pretty…so thank you…I think.”

 

He chuckled again shaking his head, arm tightening a bit more,

 

“I said you are the most ridiculously adorable thing I’ve ever seen and I have no idea how you’re even real…”

 

Simon blushed, nodding quickly,

 

“Oh t-that’s…umm…thank you…I know I said that already but…umm…thanks…”

 

Raphael gave a soft devastatingly warm smile that made Simon feel kinda breathless and lightheaded,

 

“You are most welcome lindo.”

 

He tilted his head,

 

“You keep calling me that…I’m guessing it’s good too…right? It’s not like the shoe thing?”

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head

 

“No, ‘cutie’ is nothing like shoe, or smartass for that matter.”

 

Simon flushed brightly,

 

“Oh…umm…t-that…umm…that’s…

 

Damnit you are **_way_** too good at this!” he grumbled,

 

He quirked his eyebrow,

 

“So…you don’t want me to compliment you?”

 

Simon shook his head quickly,

 

“No! I didn’t say that…I SO didn’t say that…but…well…if you keep doing that you should know that most of the nights conversation is gonna be on you cause I’m just gonna be a stammering, blushing mess.”

 

He snickered, giving a slightly unconcerned shrug,

 

“Honestly I don’t know how well that will turn out. I’m not generally much of a conversationalist...they go on too long and it usually turn into snark, vague threats or a lot of sarcasm and eyerolling…

 

Though to be fair the person I talk to the most is Mags and well…you’ve met him…that could most definitely be a factor.”

 

Simon laughed

 

“Yeah I can see that…he is definitely something else.”

 

Raphael nodded,

 

“That is one way to put it…probably the nicest in any case. At least I managed to talk him out of his shovel speech.”

 

Simon froze, jarring Raphael to a stop,

 

“Magnus’s what now?” he squeaked,

 

Raphael waved him off,

 

“Don’t worry I got him to promise not to…and anyways I don’t think it’d of really been that bad.”

 

“ _Not that bad?!_ It’s Magnus freaking Bane! And a shovel speech…like an actual threatening, ‘what are your intentions with my best friend’ kinda speech! And you KNOW it’d be crazy dramatic and over the top but still completely terrifying…

 

You’re sure he isn’t gonna, like corner me and have like ‘the talk’ or something? Like for sure, for sure?”

 

Raphael nodded,

 

“Yes lindo, I am sure, I made him promise and he would never go back on his word. He can be sneaky and underhanded at times, but when it comes to something that is between us he is always up front and honest...” he trailed off with a slight sigh,

 

Simon tilted his head, glancing over at him,

 

“What’s wrong?” he shook his head,

 

“It’s just…this is the first thing I’ve ever kept from him…generally I don’t have a problem with deception or half truths but…it’s Mags…

 

It’s just different.”

 

Simon sighed,

 

“I’m sorry…I hate putting you in this position.”

 

He shook his head,

 

“No Simon, I understand…he is the most powerful supernatural in the city…hell in the country. One of the most powerful Supernaturals in existence…I want to think that he’d hear you out, but…

 

I-if he didn’t…”

 

“I’d be screwed.” Simon finished,

 

He nodded,

 

“I know you are not like other Gwir-Dysts, and if Magnus would sit down and listen to you I’m sure he would feel the same way, but…it’s Mag’s…

 

He’s not exactly known for his patience and levelheadedness. He’s impulsive and reckless and extremely protective of those he loves…

 

I mean maybe if w…” he trailed off,

 

Simon tilted his head,

 

“If what?”

 

Raphael sighed, shrugging,

 

“If this between us wasn’t happening it’d probably be a hell of a lot easier for you with him.

 

I mean, he said he won’t do the whole speech thing, and I believe him, but I can’t guarantee he won’t be nosy as hell and probably ask you a million questions…actually I can almost guarantee he _will._

 

A-and if he finds out some way that isn’t you outright telling him he’s probably going to think it’s some kind of trap, the same way I did.”

 

Simon swallowed nervously,

 

“So The High Warlock Of Brooklyn will think that I’m some evil hunter working some sneaky underhanded scheme trying to trap and god only knows what else his best friend…

 

Who he’s extremely protective of as he’s basically your only family…

 

Crap.”

 

Raphael huffed, nodding, pulling away a bit, slipping his hands into his pockets,

 

“Yeah…” he deflated, shaking his head, turning slightly away, sighing,

 

“Simon I-I really like you…I don’t want to cause you any more problems or you’re your life even more dangerous…maybe we s-”

 

He’s cut off by Simon catching his arm, tugging him around, pulling him in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips,

 

Raphael froze, blinking, eyes wide,

 

“W-wha?”

 

Simon shook his head

 

“Uh uh, no, stop right there. I know what you’re saying and what you’re thinking and I get it; but no.

 

I like you Raphael, a lot. You’re smart and brave and funny and kind and deep a-and just…

 

Just the most amazing person I have ever met.

 

I have never felt this kind of connection to someone, and I don’t know, maybe it’s just from the fact that we told each other our entire life stories, or maybe it’s because of the rush of finally having someone else I can really truly be honest with, or hell…maybe it’s just because you’re really gorgeous and smart and suave and for some mind boggling reason you actually like me too.

 

I don’t know what it is.

 

But I want the chance to find out.

 

And I’m not just gonna ignore it or forget about it or pretend that it doesn’t exist just because your best friend is a scarily powerful Warlock who could smite me with a flick of his wrist.

 

I know it’s stupidly dangerous, but…

 

Hell I’m a Gwir-Dyst living in the Supernatural capital of the world.

 

Stupidly dangerous is practically my wheelhouse.” He finished, looking up meeting Raphael’s eye’s, determined,

 

Raphael was staring in shock, eyes wide,

 

He swallowed faintly, shaking his head a bit, before giving a slightly breathless laugh, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“And here I thought you said you were bad at this?”

 

Simon ducked his head, shrugging,

 

“Well…yeah I am… usually…but I’m also stubborn as hell and don’t give up. Especially on something that could be amazing just because it might be stupid or reckless or mildly life threatening.”

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head faintly, reaching up, brushing a bit of Simon’s hair back, tucking it behind his ear, trailing lightly down his cheek.

 

“Well I have never been one to back down from a challenge;

 

If you’re willing to take the risk, so am I.”

 

Simon nodded, meeting his gaze, strong and sure,

 

“I am.”

 

Raphael smiled,

 

“Good.”

 

He trailed his hand back, catching in his hair, tugging Simon forward into a soft, slow, deep kiss.

 

Simon gave a slight whimpering sigh, slipping his arms around him, pulling him a bit closer for just a moment before breaking the kiss, gasping faintly, holding on a bit tighter, trying to steady himself as his knees suddenly felt like rubber…

 

“Wow… _SO_ worth it.” he thought,

 

Raphael laughed brightly,

 

_Oops…guess he didn’t just think that…_

 “Absolutely.”

 

Simon smiled, tugging him close, hugging him tightly for just a moment, before pulling back, beginning once more on their walk, keeping his arm firmly around Raphael’s waist.

 

He sighed faintly,

 

“This was a wonderful idea; it really is a beautiful night.” He sighed softly, looking out over the water at the shimmering skyline and the bright gleaming moon hanging high overhead,

 

It really was a breathtaking view. he shivered faintly, cuddling a bit closer to Raphael’s side as the breeze kicked up a bit, rustling through the leaves on the trees,

 

Raphael tilted his head, glancing over at him,

 

“Are you cold? We can head back…”

 

Simon shook his head,

 

“No, I’m fine…I don’t want to head back yet.

 

I might just have to stay a bit closer to you…hope that’s alright?”

 

Raphael chuckled,

 

“That is more than alright, lindo but I don’t want you to freeze…here.” he paused taking a step back, unfastening his suit jacket, slipping it off his shoulders,

 

Simon shook his head,

 

“Oh! No, I couldn’t-”

 

“Yes you can…”

 

“B-”

 

Raphael shook his head,

 

“Simon the cold doesn’t affect me the way it does you, I am fine, really, and it’s rather poor form letting my date freeze…

 

Besides if you catch pneumonia I’m liable to have another angry lecture from Bambi…

 

Just take it, please?

 

I insist.”

 

Simon blushed, nodding faintly,

 

Raphael gave a relieved smile, helping him into it, reaching down, fastening the buttons before glancing back up, meeting his eyes,

 

“Better?”

 

Simon swallowed, nodding

 

“Maravilloso…” he murmured softly, reaching up, again brushing his hair back, trailing down his cheek, giving a soft chuckle,

 

“Wow…your heart is really racing.”

 

Simon gave a surprised laugh, and a faintly unconcerned shrug,

 

“Yeah…have a feeling we’ll both need to just get used to that, I think it’s gonna happen a lot.”

 

Raphael chuckled again, giving a warm smile,

 

“I’m kinda okay with that…”

 

Simon tugged him a bit closer,

 

“Me too.” he murmured leaning in again catching his lips in a soft, sweet kiss,

 

Raphael hummed, hands trailing down, catching at the sides of the jacket, using it to pull him in more, giving a soft, contented sigh

 

_Hmm…_

_Yeah, definitely worth it…_

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

#  _ Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus _

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

 

 _Ugh…he hated paperwork_ ,

 

 Usually he’d just do a spell to get all this annoying crap in order, but if the business was going to end up with them working with the BPD quite frequently Raphael had insisted that whatever could be done the human way, should be.

 

Which he DID have a point, it wasn’t just like a quick cover story that was going to be discarded or buried in the archives down at the station. It was going to be an actual, official business…

_Damn Raphael and his logic…_

 

Of course the whole purchasing a suitable location had to be done during the day so he got out of it. By now he’d almost swear these damn contracts for the place where conjured up by demons or Djinn or some scheming nefarious evil force…

 

_Or just a lot of obnoxious human lawyers…_

_Frankly he’d take the demons…_

_Much more reasonable…_

_Plus far easier to intimidate._

 

Still the place was rather ideal, it was an old storefront, from the looks of the things left it’s last incarnation was a travel agency- ‘Great Expeditions’- there’s still an old help/information type desk and some random posters and brochures spread about. He thought doing the paperwork here would give him a real idea of the feel of the location.

 

It really seems exactly what he needs. Easy enough to find where it wasn’t exactly hidden, but not so blaringly obvious as to have people stumbling in with every last lost cat/ cheating spouse gripe.

 

Add in a slight masking spell, making it only obviously noticeable to those with an actual supernatural issue and it will be perfect.

 

Once he gets through this damnable paperwork. Honestly, he’s been alive for over eight hundred years and speaks and reads more languages than he can really even keep track of and yet he can barely make sense of this contract from hell…

 

_He doesn’t know how a normal human would stand a chance…_

_Really it was j-_

 

He startles at a slight knock at the door, followed by the bell above it tinkling _(Okay maybe **lock** the door in the not yet hidden business)_

 

He sighs,

 

“If you are looking for ‘Great Expeditions’ I am afraid the painfully punny name was not enough to keep it in business…

 

Might I suggest going online to plan your trip like the rest of the w-

 

Alexander?” he trailed off,

 

“Hey Magnus...I didn’t really know where to find you and I didn’t have your number, Simon does but I didn’t know if you’d answer a number you didn’t recognize and I had Raphael’s from the case so I called and asked him and he told me you were here…I hope that’s alright?

 

I kinda didn’t realize how weird it would sound until I just said it…” he trailed off, nervously rubbing at his neck, cheeks flushing faintly.

 

Magnus chuckled, tilting his head,

 

“Hmm…well…maybe it is a tiny bit stalkery…but you’re pretty enough to get away with it…this time anyways.

 

Though we should probably avoid such awkwardness in the future…” he reached forward holding his hand out expectantly

 

“Hand my your phone.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow, before reaching in his pocket retrieving the phone, holding it out to him,

 

“You know you’re kinda pushy.”

 

Magnus grinned, shrugging,

 

“All part of my charm gorgeous…” he winked playfully, glancing down at the phone quickly adding his information, before holding the phone up, snapping a photo of Alec, sending it to his phone, finally handing it back.

 

He huffed, rolling his eyes,

 

“Yeah, it’s really not, and why did you do that?”

 

Magnus grinned

 

“So I can see your gorgeous face whenever you call me of course.”

 

Alec blushed, shaking his head faintly,

 

An idea occurred to Magnus, quickly fishing his own phone out, opening his photos, pulling up one, sending it to Alec’s, before glancing up impishly,

 

“There, now you have a picture to use for my info too.”

 

He rolled his eyes again, holding his phone up, gaze flickering over the incoming message before freezing, cheeks coloring brilliantly,

 

“Umm…w-why are you shirtless in this?” he stammered, trying to glance away, blushing even brighter,

 

Magnus gave a slight dismissive shrug,

 

“Eh, I’ve never really been shy, and it’s a good picture…”

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow mischievously,

 

“Problem?”

 

Alec gave a slight, surprised laugh, shaking his head,

 

“You really are shameless, aren’t you?”

 

Magnus chuckled,

 

“You say that like it’s a bad thing?

 

Personally I think people tend to get far too caught up in the judgments and hang-ups of random idiots. If I don’t respect the person, why would I give a damn about their opinions? On me or anything else?

 

Of course that doesn’t apply to gorgeous, intriguing, detectives with a sexy voice and a devastating smile,

 

It’s more of a generality, but it still stands.

 

Besides, I prefer to think of it as simply being comfortable with myself.”

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head,

 

“Well of course you’d be comfortable with yourself;

 

You’re smart, weirdly intimidating and you look like _that_ …umm…I m-” he trailed off, blushing brightly

 

Magnus gave a delighted laugh, quirking his eyebrow,

 

Alec groaned, covering his eyes,

 

“C-can we just forget I said that please?”

 

Magnus shook his head,

 

“I don’t think so gorgeous… I said I don’t put much stock in the opinions of those I don’t respect…but the ones I **_do_** is another matter entirely…

 

Even when those opinions are unintentional compliments from a thoroughly captivating detective…

 

Especially then.”

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head faintly, rubbing at his temple,

 

“God…I can’t even keep from saying embarrassing things when I’m clear headed and sober…I can’t imagine how bad I was the other night at the hospital.”

 

Magnus tilted his head curiously,

 

“Ah…so that’s why you were so adamant about finding me...”

 

Alec shrugged, giving a slight nod,

 

“Part of it yeah…” he trailed off with a faint sigh, before glancing back up almost nervously,

 

“So…honestly...how bad was it?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“Eh, it wasn’t too bad…the proposal was a _bit_ over the top but other than that…”

 

Alec sputtered, flushing,

 

“I did not-”

 

Magnus pouted, giving a fake disappointed look,

 

“You mean you don’t remember? I’m crushed. I was already starting to plan…”

 

Alec glared, quirking his eyebrow sarcastically,

 

“You’re a jackass you know that?”

 

Magnus chuckled

 

“Sorry gorgeous, I couldn’t resist having a bit of fun.”

 

Alec huffed

 

“Magnus j-”

 

He shook his head, holding his hands up placatingly,

 

“Darling it’s really quite alright. You didn’t say anything bad. You were very complimentary which was absolutely delightful, you apologized for yelling at me, and to be perfectly honest you did try to kiss me, but darling that’s it.”

 

Alec blushed, biting his lip, giving a guilty look

 

“Damnit, I’m sorry I-”

 

Magnus shook his head, waving it off,

 

“Okay first off? No apologies necessary. You tried to kiss me; under any other circumstances I would have pounced on you in a second flat…

 

And secondly?

 

Darling you were in the hospital with a concussion on painkillers, even if you had said or did something insulting or embarrassing it would take a very special type of jackass to hold it against you.

 

And that’s not me.

 

You are fine sweetheart, I promise.”

 

Alec blushed brighter, blinking for a moment before relaxing a bit, nodding,

 

“Thanks Magnus.”

 

He smiled

 

“Don’t mention it gorgeous.”

 

Alec swallowed,

 

“And thank you for the other night.”

 

Magnus tilted his head

 

“For what darling?”

 

Alec sighed,

 

“You know for what. For coming after me. For saving my life.”

 

Magnus swallowed, shaking his head,

 

“Oh really, Raphael did most of it, he’s the one who helped you down…he did far better than me…

 

I couldn’t get Rodger to leave a-”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“Magnus I don’t remember much of any of it…it’s all a jumbled mess mixed up with my dreams or hallucinations or whatever else, but…” he paused, swallowing,

 

“But I know you are the one who saved my life-”

 

“No Ra-”

 

“Magnus? Please don’t lie to me on this? I don’t know what happened there, I really don’t and I’ve seen the report, Luke showed it to me and it fits, it all does…

 

But I know there was a hell of a lot more to it than that.

 

I don’t know what…I don’t know why you are so insistent on hiding the truth, but I know, without a shadow of a doubt that YOU are the one who saved my life.

 

So thank you.

 

However you did it, whatever you did…

 

Thank you.” 

 

 Magnus sighed, deflating a bit, giving a slight nod,

 

“No thanks necessary gorgeous, I did it for me as much as for you.”

 

Alec tilted his head curiously,

 

“How do you mean?”

 

He shrugged,

 

“I had just barely met you darling…I was in no way ready to say goodbye.”

 

Alec smiled, giving a slight nod,

 

“Me neither…” he paused shaking his head,

 

“You know, I think you are the oddest person I have ever met...”

 

 Magnus chuckled,

 

“Oh sweetheart you have NO idea...”

 

Alec laughed

 

“I really don’t…but I’d like to.”

 

“And I would very much like you to…” he faltered, glancing away,

 

Alec sighed, nodding

 

“But I can’t.”

 

“It is very complicated.”

 

Alec gave a slight laugh, leaning against the desk next to Magnus, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“ _That_ I believe.”

 

Magnus shook his head, glancing back up at him,

 

“I really wish it wasn’t so damn complicated.”

 

Alec nodded, eyes flickering over his face, lingering on his lips, sighing faintly,

 

“Me too…”

 

Magnus huffed,

 

“Well…at least we agree…that’s something…”

 

Alec laughed,

 

“We agree that it’s annoyingly complicated and we wish it wasn’t?”

 

“Still, it’s something.”

 

Alec sighed, slumping a bit against the desk, idly glancing around the room, pausing, quirking his eyebrow, looking back at Magnus,

 

“By the way, what are you doing in a closed travel agency? Raphael just gave me the address.”

 

Magnus perked up, smiling brightly,

 

“Oh! I’m buying it. This is going to be the home of my new paranormal Private Investigation Agency…it’ll be a bit of work but I think it will work quite well, don’t you?”

 

Alec blinked in surprise,

 

“Your what?”

 

He huffed, rolling his eyes, pouting dramatically,

 

“Alexander! Really now, I realize our first meeting was a bit…distracting… Mmm…VERY distracting…but I would like to think you were actually listening to what I had to say, not just blatantly checking me out.”

 

Alec gave a sharp laugh, rolling his eyes,

 

“I was listening…you said you were starting a PI business, you said nothing about ‘paranormal’ anything.

 

That actually would have made a lot more sense- what with the occult angle, the weird writing, sigils and such.” He paused, gaze slowly slipping over Magnus, taking in his current outfit; the blood red leather boots, slim fitting black distressed jeans, studded belt and rich deep iridescent shirt that shimmered between red and black, topped off with his usual assortment of jewelry and mirrored black nail polish.

 

His lip quirked in a faintly teasing smile that Magnus found far too appealing, slipping just a bit closer,

 

“Actually it fits you perfectly.”

 

Magnus smirked, quirking his eyebrow playfully.

 

“Why, because I’m so very bewitching?”

 

Alec chuckled,

 

“Oh, you’re definitely something.”

 

Magnus laughed softly, drifting a bit closer,

 

“You know that is quite ambiguous…

 

I don’t know if you meant that as a compliment or an insult?”

 

Alec tilted his head,

 

“Hmm…neither do I.”

 

Magnus’s eyes widened in surprise,

 

“Oh you are quite fun _detective_ …So feisty…it is very…Invigorating.

 

I do hope I get to work with you more.”

 

Alec chuckled, shrugging,

 

“Well…who knows? Maybe a few of your ‘paranormal’ investigations will wind up at my precinct…”

 

Magnus leaned in a bit more, gaze sharp and excited,

 

“Mmm…so…if you find me at another of your scenes are you going to arrest me again?”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow

 

“Are you going to be actively trespassing and interfering in police investigations?”

 

Magnus smirked, slipping closer with a careless shrug,

 

“If I am can we revisit the whole handcuffs/strip search thing?

 

Because if so; yes, absolutely. Every chance I get.”

 

Alec burst out laughing, cheeks flushing, shaking his head before getting himself in order, glancing back up at Magnus,

 

“You are absolutely insane.”

 

Magnus shrugged

 

“But I am so very entertaining,”

 

“More like aggravating.”

 

“Intoxicating?”

 

“Exasperating.”

 

“Endearing?”

 

Alec chuckled, smiling,

 

“Okay, I’ll give you that one.”

 

Magnus blinked in surprise, cheeks heating slightly,

 

“Thank you Alexander.”

 

He gave a slight shrug, tilting his head,

 

“So I really am curious: what made you decide on ‘Paranormal’ Private Investigator?

 

Why not just a regular PI?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“Sweetheart, I don’t do anything ‘regular’…just seemed more interesting.”

 

Alec stilled, eyes brightening,

 

“You’re lying…”

 

Magnus froze, before shaking his head,

 

“I am not...”

 

Alec laughed, nodding quickly,

 

“Oh yes you are...”

 

Magnus blinked

 

“I am not…and if you’re so sure I’m lying, why are you smiling? Why aren’t you yelling?”

 

Alec chuckled, quirking his eyebrow, stepping a bit closer, biting his lip slightly,

 

“Because you, Magnus, have a tell…” he paused, moving closer,

 

“And now I know what it is.”  

 

Magnus gasped,

 

“I-I do not.”

 

Alec chuckled again, stepping even closer, less than a foot away now, giving a slight nod, gaze flickering over Magnus’s face, settling on his eyes, meeting his gaze head on, eyes bright and sparking,

 

Magnus gulped, feeling suddenly a bit lightheaded,

 

“Oh yes you do.” He murmured, voice soft and distracting, drifting even closer, Magnus couldn’t help but lean in a bit too,

 

“So…here’s the thing;

 

I know you lied to me before, I know you will again…I don’t know why, but I know it will happen. I wish you could be honest with me, but I’m not naive enough to think everything’s that simple.

 

I think if you feel you can, you will be honest with me whenever possible…if not, you won’t.

 

I don’t like it, but I do understand…

 

And now I know your tell.

 

So…when I catch you lying- and I _will_ catch you- if it’s something small I’ll let it go…won’t even mention it…

 

If it’s something I feel I need to know, I will call you out on it…

 

And we can just go from there.

 

Sound fair?”

 

Magnus gulped, nodding,

 

Alec smiled, giving a slight nod in return, gaze flickering again over Magnus’s face, this time lingering on his lips,

 

Magnus gave a soft hum, biting his lip,

 

Alec’s breath caught, eyes darkening, swaying forward,

 

They both startle at the trill of his phone signaling a text. Alec shakes his head, breaking the spell, glancing down at the screen,

 

“Damnit…” he muttered shaking his head again, glancing back up, giving a slightly apologetic shrug,

 

“It’s my brother Jace; we’re all having dinner at our parents so I can fill them in on everything and I guess as a ‘congratulations for not being sacrificed to a demon’…

 

Though I think I’d take being unconscious in the hospital again over an awkward, tense dinner between my close-minded parents and their three out of four out and one-that’s-just-barely in children.” He shrugged again, taking a step back, gaze going over Magnus once more, before meeting his eyes again,

 

“It’s gonna be very…interesting…working with you Magnus…

 

Can’t wait for our first case.”

 

Magnus swallowed, giving a quick nod,

 

“Neither can I gorgeous.”

 

Alec smiled, gaze lingering a bit more before shaking it off, gesturing towards the door,

 

“I really do need to go, the sooner I get there the sooner we can get done and my siblings can be done with the awkward, tense, forced family ‘fun’.” He turned beginning for the door

 

Magnus took a deep breath; trying to get himself in order, before pausing, tilting his head curiously,

 

“Alexander?”

 

He glanced back,

 

“Hmm?”

 

“What is my tell?”

 

Alec chuckled, turning to face him, leaning against the door, quirking his eyebrow challengingly, shaking his head

 

“Uh uh…I don’t thinks so…That’s MY secret.” He finished, giving a bit of a playful wink, reaching over, turning the doorknob, quickly slipping out.

 

Magnus stood for a minute, blinking in surprise, before giving a slightly disbelieving laugh, shaking his head,

_Oh wow…_

_He could not wait for the first case…_

#  *~*~*~* _The End…_

#  _For Now…_ *~*~*~*

#  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maravilloso= Wonderful
> 
> Alright so that’s the end…of our beginning trilogy thing anyways…
> 
> Yeah, I know we should've circled back to Alec’s memories but that is gonna be an ongoing thing. For the ending of this one I wanted sweet and fluffy, we have all season to deal with drama, mysteries and such.
> 
> Speaking of ‘All Season’ I have the  entire season (for me a season is 10 stories) planned out. I’m REALLY loving my secondary/OC characters in this; Kevin, Divya and Raj and Max and his friends I think a lot of the series is gonna shift focus to them…FYIin the descriptions there may not be a lot of mention of Malec Saphael but you know that's always there…  
> 
> 4- **_Panic at The Disco:_**
> 
> Clary and Izzy are really hitting it off, it’s like a fairytale, Izzy can’t believe she’s found this amazing, magical girl…But when a twist of fate leads to an unexpected discovery her entire world is shook. Clary is the most magical person she has ever met…But how will she cope when she realizes that’s not an exaggeration?
> 
> Meanwhile Magnus is trying to set up his new business, but a crooked PI seems set on derailing it before it even really begins… the man is human, and too stupid to sense the threat…
> 
> Sigh…
> 
> He’d take demons over arrogant morons any day…
> 
> **_ 5- Hex Games: _ **
> 
> When a bizarre string of events hits her school Divya brings in their first client, her favorite teacher- a Gargoyle who protects the school. Magnus is eager to start their first official case. But how can one of the most powerful (And recognizable) Supernaturals in existence subtly investigate at a high school…not like he could just go undercover…
> 
> Oh crap…he’s totally trying that, isn’t he?
> 
> Yeah…
> 
> They may need a bit of help on this one…Fortunately Max and Isaac are already on it.
> 
> **_ 6- Love Bug: _ **
> 
> So Anifail aren’t all terrifying hellhounds and freaky giant fire scorpions…some are small, cute even. But they’re still a pain. When a group of cute iridescent hot pink fluffy little beetle looking things escape they wreak havoc. The bite of these oh so adorable little critters has an…odd…effect…
> 
> Basically their like fluffy, cute, fluttering aphrodisiacs on steroids…The bite heightens sexual attraction, lowers inhibitions, and apparently makes people willing to do near any reckless, stupid, crazy stunt in order to impress their love interest…
> 
> Three guesses who ends up getting bit…
> 
> _Yeah…this should be fun…_
> 
> **_ 7-Jace Case:  _ **
> 
> So, okay we know Jace can be a bit obnoxious and annoying…but can he actually be SO annoying that someone conjures up some crazy nightmare version of his quirky duck phobia just to torment him?
> 
> Do you really need to ask?
> 
> Magnus to the rescue yet again…it’s a good thing Jace’s siblings are so damn endearing or he’d SO be duck chow.
> 
> **_ 8- I Dream Of Djinn (Or maybe you’re just drunk): _ **
> 
> An evil Djinn is wreaking havoc. Meanwhile Kai and Declan come for a visit and both Alec AND Magnus have the whole meet the parent’s drama (Though Alec doesn’t actually KNOW that’s what it is)
> 
> **_ 9- Drama Club (Was Never THIS Dramatic): _ **
> 
> When Kasey suddenly begins to see the supernatural without any spell or even much of a warning, Max, Isaac and Billie try to figure out what is going on.
> 
> **_ 10- Looking Through Your Eyes: _ **
> 
> Something is yet again wreaking havoc in Brooklyn, but this one is bad. It’s another anifail but worse…this one is deadly. The bite of this creature allows humans see the supernatural… _Forces_ them to…with all the usual consequences…but worse? The bite is fatal within 72 hours.
> 
> When Alec and Simon are out on a case Alec gets bit. It’s a race against time, all bets are off. Simon knows how dangerous it would be if Magnus finds out, but Magnus is the only one who has a chance at fixing this and there's no time for subtlety.
> 
> _So…what do you all think?_
> 
> _I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait…_
> 
> _Thanks so much for reading and the comments, you all are amazing._
> 
> _💜💜💜💜_


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